Whether it is the time or the method, true labor is half initiative and half knowing how to let things proceed on their own. – Deng Ming Dao, 365 Tao
Life is funny. We talk regularly here about utilizing our talents and making our time serve us and how we only have a limited amount of time on this planet to make something good happen for ourselves. Nothing we want is going to come to us; we must go out and get it. Half initiative.
Yet there are there time when it is beneficial to sit back, relinquish control and let matters take their own course. Because sometimes, in spite of our best efforts, matters are going to take their own course anyway. We might as well allow it to happen. Fighting the always so only leads to frustration and discontent. Half letting things proceed on their own.
The key is to recognize when it is time to assert ourselves and when it is time to let go and the key to this is recognizing what we can control and what we can’t. All we can really control is what is inside us. Sure, we must show some initiative in this life. It’s how things get done. We must also realize when we have no control over a situation and when the time has come to let things proceed on their own. This is also how things get done. It’s the way world is built.
…half initiative and half knowing how to let things proceed on their own.
Really, the only thing we can control is us. Of course, we need to show initiative in our lives. We cannot make our time serve us sitting on the couch. Equally important, we must allow the natural order to take its course and let happen what is going to happen anyway. We must know when to proceed and when it is best to stand on the bank and let the river run its course. Doing both allows us to reap the profits and benefits from each situation.
