It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to
carry it when it is full. If you keep feeling a point that has been
sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.
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So that’s a wild little quote from the Tao Te Ching. What do you think it means? I think that second line about the sharpness of things is a great statement about moving on. About not getting stuck in our successes. About not living only for accolades. If we spend all of our time reveling in our momentary glory, it will not be long until it is tarnished and becomes something worn out. Something banal. Something others no longer hear about, but instead, makes us look dull.
I think it’s probably time to stop bragging about that second-place ribbon I won in middle school in the 40-yard dash.
But what of that first line? What can that tell us? Is it just Lao Tzu’s pithy statement about making a task easier? Sure, if something is empty it is lighter to carry. But that can’t be all there is to it. Maybe it means that our load in the world will be lighter if we don’t have to carry a heavy ego. Maybe if we learn to be content with an emptier backpack, we’ll have less to tote around as we move through the world.
If we take the two together, what do we have? Anyone? I heard someone yell out, “Confusion!” Yes. Yes, we certainly have that. But I think we also have a very simple (complex?) commentary on humility. How? Well, it seems that if we stay focused on living a simple life, keeping the load light, and letting even our glories go, then we will cover more ground in more peace. We will have less mental weight, less emotional clutter, and less disappointment.
In other words, simplicity.
Anyway, I’m going to take some of these lessons and do some cleaning around here. What about you?
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