Self-Improvement
According to Taoism These 3 Non-Actions Are the Real Secret to Life Mastering
Ever woken up in the morning and felt like you don’t really have the reins in your hands? Ever felt like you can’t really tell if you are doing well or not? Every individual lives through days like these and it’s okay to be honest.
The first step is to want to master your life and you are half way there. Once you accept it, the next question is how.
We all wrestle our own demons and cope with the boulders life throws our way every day, in our own small and subjective ways. And every little effort is worthy of applause.
Distilling the essence of Oriental Zen philosophy, the conclusion we have reached is: The secret to mastering your life is non-action.
Now this can be hard to reconcile with Western concepts like “hard work gets rewarded” and the preoccupation with effort, but this has the base pillar in Taoist philosophy; in the notion of Wu Wei or “action through inaction”.
These so-called ‘non-actions’ are the ones that give rise to actions. And they are: Trust, Appreciate and Just-Be.
Trust
Trust in the situation. Whatever happens, happens for a reason.
When something doesn’t meet your expectations, let it be; it’s the situation, not you.
Surrender; don’t give up. Surrender to a higher power behind all the background noise and learn to accept whatever is happening as something not in your hands.
Your mind will create diversions, eddies and dams, but you shouldn’t let that stop your flow of the creative juices. Let that not stop your thoughts from taking flight.
Let your own intuition take hold of you and the world will do the rest.
Trust in the divine to help you in times of need and indecisiveness.
And no matter what setbacks you face, smile; be positive about life.
Appreciate
Always count the smallest of blessings: that sky is not gloomy, the air is fresh, the birds are chirping and the train is on time.
Be grateful to something up there and then you’ll see what you do have and stop complaining about things you don’t.
Change the way you look at life. Look at it like a gift and not something you are forced into.
Might seem very hard initially, but really that is the way to go.
Appreciate the people who love you; the world might end tomorrow, and you don’t want that silence on your conscience. Tell them every day that you appreciate their existence and that you love them. And most important, learn to forgive, if not forget.
Read After: Once you learn these 9 powerful Life Lessons from a Taoist Monk, you’ll be much stronger
Just Be. Exist
“Cogito ergo sum”– I think, therefore I am; explained Rene Descartes.
So, think. Exist and ponder on it; reflect on your past and try and imagine a better future.
Once you realise how much trouble every atom in the universe took to form you as a human being, you will be happy just by existing! That is the first step towards making an effort about your current situation in the first place.
Yes, imagine a future, but don’t get carried away by the vision; Things might or might not fall into the places you want them to. After all life is not a game of dominoes.
Choose to be rooted and aware of the present moment and be grateful to be. Your intuition, which is something as inexplicable but true as the existence of God, will be your guide as you will start to notice the limitless pool of resources you can draw from.
Life is not necessarily a “Series of Unfortunate Events”.
And like my favourite performance poet, Rudy Francisco puts it, and mind you these are lines I swear by:
“[…]it doesn’t matter if the glass is half full or half empty, there’s water in the cup.”
Drink it, and stop complaining.
Muscle is created by repeatedly lifting things that have been designed to weigh us down. So when your shoulders feel heavy, stand up straight and lift your chin – call it exercise. When the world crumbles around you, you have to look at the wreckage and then build a new one out of the pieces that are still here.
Remember, you are still here.
The human heart beats approximately four thousand times per hour.
Each pulse, each throb, each palpitation is a trophy engraved with the words “You are still alive”.
You are still alive.
Act like it.”
Cheers and Godspeed.
