Highs and Lows
This is Passage 3 of Stephen Mitchell’s English translation of Tao Te Ching
In the last post I talked about how words can limit the reality of something that exists -
for example, a tree is called “a tree” but do we actually understand all of its complexities
that make it so much more than what we see it as?
A tree is so much more than a tree — it’s a home to animals and insects; it’s an entire ecosystem.
And just like that the words I use to attempt describing the tree continue to fall short of all it is -
because words are limited to definitions and single aspects.
With this understanding, we are prepared to take on this passage from Lao Tzu.
Paradoxically, while words have the capacity to limit one’s understanding or worldview,
they also have the capacity to reveal understanding and worldviews which oppose ours.
Take for example, the word “dark”.
With this world we understand it as the opposite of light; if we understand dark, we can understand light.
Even more powerfully, without either dark or light the other would not exist.
What Lao Tzu is teaching us here in these passages is that the whole cannot exist
without the various parts which it is composed of.
So how does this relate to your business or non-profit?
When you’re faced with outcomes that aren’t what you’d hoped
(especially after pouring your heart, soul and savings into a coach or program for help)
it’s important to remember the less desirable outcome is a part of the outcome you’ve always wanted.
You can’t get to the recurring four, five and six-figure months without the zero figure ones.
This may sound harsh, but without the lows, you can’t have the highs.
Because it is the lows which give us insights into what needs to change in order for highs to exist.
So start treating zero dollars and $1,000,000 the same; once you can feel neutral
about both scenarios you’re not stuck on a “side” and can walk the middle path -
being truly okay with whatever comes because you trust everything is perfect as it is -
you have the capacity to now steward each outcome so it can work in your favor
regardless of what the outcome looks like.
With this mindset, you can let go of your attachment to specific results
and fall in love with developing the process which, ironically, is the only way
to get closer to your intended results..
H
ow does this apply to your personal life?
In the same way every individual’s experiences and preferences vary,
each experience and preference is a vital part of the whole.
To put it simply, if I see something as beautiful or good that doesn’t necessarily mean
someone will see what I see, and that’s okay.
Either perspective doesn’t take away from the other, rather they support each other.
If we can become neighbors, family members, parents, teachers, friends (I think you see where I am going with this…)
who find opposite perspectives as support for ours we would create a world of harmony.
So whether you’re confronted with an opposite as simple as not adoring your neighbor’s golden retriever
whose sunny temperament and faultless loyalty make you shake your head with disgust
because you'd rather hand feed your snake mice than pick up your dog’s poop
or if you’re faced with a more urgent opposite like your boss asking you to do something
you would consider unethical; remember, the opposite of our ways gives way for our way to exist in the first place.
So, thank them both for existing and walk in the way you choose without insulting
either the person or the opposite which exists.
Remember, as you continue walking in the way you choose without judging another’s
you’re creating a world of harmony.
By Arabella Davis
