Bit by Bit - Chapter 6, Part 7

Trey Smith

This was the True Man of old: his bearing was lofty and did not crumble; he appeared to lack but accepted nothing; he was dignified in his correctness but not insistent; he was vast in his emptiness but not ostentatious. Mild and cheerful, he seemed to be happy; reluctant, he could not help doing certain things; annoyed, he let it show in his face; relaxed, he rested in his virtue. Tolerant, he seemed to be part of the world; towering alone, he could be checked by nothing; withdrawn, he seemed to prefer to cut himself off; bemused, he forgot what he was going to say.
~ Burton Watson translation ~

There is nothing wrong with expressing emotion; it is part of who we are as human beings. Try to suppress your emotions and the energy gets bottled up inside of you. At some point, it will work its way out -- often in highly inappropriate ways!!

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I think the trick is to learn not to hold onto our emotions. Express them spontaneously and then move on.

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