Bit by Bit - Chapter 1, Part 7

Trey Smith

The little quail laughs at him, saying, "Where does he think he's going? I give a great leap and fly up, but I never get more than ten or twelve yards before I come down fluttering among the weeds and brambles. And that's the best kind of flying anyway! Where does he think he's going?" Such is the difference between big and little.

Therefore a man who has wisdom enough to fill one office effectively, good conduct enough to impress one community, virtue enough to please one ruler, or talent enough to be called into service in one state, has the same kind of self-pride as these little creatures. Sung Jung-tzu would certainly burst out laughing at such a man. The whole world could praise Sung Jung-tzu and it wouldn't make him exert himself; the whole world could condemn him and it wouldn't make him mope.

He drew a clear line between the internal and the external, and recognized the boundaries of true glory and disgrace. But that was all. As far as the world went, he didn't fret and worry, but there was still ground he left unturned..
~ Burton Watson translation ~

A lesson that most of us learn along the way to maturity and/or sagacity is that we must be who we are. As it so often happens, we spent a lot of time and energy -- often in our youth -- trying to be who we are not and this masquerade generates untold amounts of stress and disharmony within our being. The more we attempt to be someone else, the more we suffer.

While our society celebrates youth, one of the great advantages of entering our senior years is that many of us no longer strive to fit into the pigeonholes that popular society creates. We have experienced the folly of such efforts and no longer feel the pull to impress others. We can live within our own skin and don't feel the need to apologize for it.

To view the Index page for this series, go here.