Wen Tzu - Verse 80, Part III

from Verse Eighty
To contend for petty reasons and lack control over the mind is called anger.
~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

I hope you each are noting that, while Lao Tzu is addressing military operations in this verse, the information he is laying out applies to each of us as individuals as well. This is certainly NOT to suggest that countries have never gone to war for petty reasons, but we see this dynamic at work most often in our own lives.

Try as we might, life doesn't always go the way we might like. There typically are two ways we can react. The first, as the above passage makes clear, is to react angrily. We can rant, rave, fume, moan and bitch. More often than not, other than letting off steam, this is not a constructive way to deal with the situation.

The second way to deal with the unexpected in life is to a) learn not to expect and b) deal with things as best we can in as calm a manner as we can muster. Clear heads -- as opposed to hot ones -- stand a much better chance of figuring out a workable solution.

This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.