Real Life Tao - Step by Step

Trey Smith

My wife is not the biggest sports fan in the world. Oh, she enjoys taking in a minor league baseball game every now and then, but she generally cringes when I watch some sort of sporting event on TV. She likes to say that sports doesn't add much to the human experience.

While I certainly will agree that sports -- particularly pro sports -- get quite overblown in our society, sports can teach many valuable life lessons...if you are of a mind to look for them. One of these lessons is never to take things for granted.

My alma mater -- Pittsburg State University -- won the NCAA Division II National Championship in football last year. For the first 5 weeks of the season this year, Pitt State remained ranked number one with a 5 - 0 record.

I'm sure many Gorilla (our team mascot) supporters had visions in their heads of a second straight championship. Why not? Our college team was undefeated and ranked in the top ten of many statistical categories.

On October 13, we took on our arch rivals, the NW Missouri State Bobcats. With 12 minutes to go in the third quarter, we were pitching a 14 - 0 shutout. It was all downhill from there! We ended up losing by the score of 31 - 21.

The next week during our homecoming we were pummeled 63 - 14 by Missouri Western University. After we won an uninspiring game against a lesser opponent, we lost again at home this weekend to Lindenwood University 44 - 33 (the game wasn't as close as the score indicates).

In the span of 4 weeks, we went from the top of the mountain to about halfway down. Because of these three losses in a month's time, we won't repeat as National Champions because Pitt State won't even make the playoffs!

So, what does all this have to do with Real Life Tao? In Verse 64 of the Tao Te Ching is one of its most famous lines: "A journey of a thousand miles starts under one's feet/begins with the first step." (It depends on the translator.)

If read superficially, this line would seem to indicate that we must plan our actions before we undertake them. We can't get to where we wish to go without making that first step meaningful.

On deeper reflection, however, EVERY step is a first step. The only step that truly matters is the next one we take. The only step we are aware of is the step we take now. Previous steps have come and gone. We can't change or alter them. Future steps have not transpired and circumstances may change our path.

When we take things for granted, we become too engrossed in the past and too hopeful of the future. Instead of paying attention to the now, we allow our fanciful imagination to run amok. And so, it's not surprising at all that, with our attention divided, our next step becomes a misstep and an endeavor that we THOUGHT would prove successful turns out to be anything but.

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