Chapter 53

Chapter 53

If I understood only one thing,
I would want to use it to follow the Tao.
My only fear would be one of pride.
The Tao goes in the level places,
but people prefer to take the short cuts.

If too much time is spent cleaning the house
the land will become neglected and full of weeds,
and the granaries will soon become empty
because there is no one out working the fields.
To wear fancy clothes and ornaments,
to have your fill of food and drink
and to waste all of your money buying possessions
is called the crime of excess.
Oh, how these things go against the way of the Tao!

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It is common knowledge that a sudden influx of immense wealth does more harm than good. At first, this sounds nonsensical, and I am pretty sure that you would think yourself to be an exception when you earn like billions of dollars overnight with some lottery – that you would live ever happier and manage your money wisely and carefully. You may be right or may be wrong. Although I am not rich and never will be and cannot be, I think I know one of the ways to keep yourself intact from any harm’s way from a sudden luck of wealth is to maintain for a while your ordinary daily life and routines. When we suddenly have power and resources, we are plagued by previously unavailable choices. This vast quantity of choices can be a curse rather than a blessing if you are not careful. In fact, we wouldn’t have been bothered if we had less choices as usual. This is when you should “strive” for “nothingness” or “emptiness” as Lao Tzu argues. You should learn to reduce these choices. Rather than thinking you can satisfy all your desires at once, it would be a better idea to restrict the available options to a few and focus on a small number of them. This equally applies to time as well. When we have lots of time during vacation, there are too many things we wish to do, but we soon realize that our free time is limited. I know this is hard, but you better learn to reduce your available options and then enjoy them to the fullest and think less on how to use your time or any other resources. Do not overburden yourself with lots of planning itself.