Zhuangzi - Leave Well Enough Alone

The lord of the south sea was Abrupt; the lord of the north sea was Sudden. From time to time Abrupt and Sudden got together in the territory of Primal Unity, and Primal Unity treated them very well.

Abrupt and Sudden planned to repay Primal Unity's kindness.

They said, "People all have seven openings, through which they see, hear, eat, and breathe; Primal Unity alone has none. Let us make openings in Primal Unity."

So every day they gouged out a hole. After seven days, Primal Unity died.
~ from Chapter 7, Thomas Cleary translation ~

When I read this passage, it jumped out to grab me by the throat! It well describes one of my great follies in life -- learning when to leave well enough alone.

I can't begin to tell you how many countless times I have taken a situation or mechanism that is working splendidly and, in trying to fine tune it so that it works better or faster, I have rendered it absolutely useless. If I would simply allow it to move at its own pace or proceed in its typical fashion, everything would be swell. It is because I feel the need to tinker with what's working that I end up screwing up everything.

To offer one example, there have been many times in which a program on my computer is working as intended. I get some hair-brained idea in my head that I want to tweak it slightly to fulfill some desire. So, I add some functionality or attempt to write a script to do whatever and, before I know it, the program no longer works at all!!

This is not my problem alone. Humankind constantly tries to tweak nature to serve our desires. In doing so, we gum up the works...sometimes irretrievably. We change one aspect of one part of an ecosystem without realizing that this one little change will cause a tidal wave of effects throughout the particular system and all those connected to it.

To read more musings about the Zhuangzi, you can visit the index page for this ongoing series.