from Verse One Hundred SevenPetty people who do not know the door of calamity and fortune are apt to fall into trouble when they act; even if they take elaborate precautions, that is not enough to keep them safe.~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~
This passage speaks to me because I can recall several times in my life in which I thought I was completely prepared for a situation, only to find out later that all my so-called preparations were for naught!
I've learned that this is one of the dangers of seeing the world through subjective eyes. Our biases and prejudices blind us to many aspects of any situation. A viable option can be staring us straight in the face, yet we fail to recognize it as such. So, we devise our plans and strategies without this vital bit of information and our efforts fail or don't succeed as well as they could have because of our lack of vision.
I've learned that this is one of the dangers of seeing the world through subjective eyes. Our biases and prejudices blind us to many aspects of any situation. A viable option can be staring us straight in the face, yet we fail to recognize it as such. So, we devise our plans and strategies without this vital bit of information and our efforts fail or don't succeed as well as they could have because of our lack of vision.
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
What can one do to avoid such situations?
ReplyDeleteIt's not an easy answer. If it was, I could bottle it up, sell it and make a fortune! :D
ReplyDeleteIt's also that you can't know in advance what is actually calamity or fortune. It's not just having the right vision, but that what looks like calamity may turn out to be fortune in the end. There's a lot of this in Zhuangzi. You'll love it!
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