Line by Line - Verse 36, Lines 5-6

when he is going to overthrow another, he will first have raised him up;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

That which is cast down
Must first be raised.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

If one wishes to discard it
One must first promote it
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

To get rid of something,
you need to hold it tight.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

This seeming paradox speaks to me loudly. Over the past few years, my wife and I have worked diligently at getting rid of stuff we neither use nor need which, I will admit, can be a bit trying for avowed packrats!

You might be amazed at all the crap we have hung onto over the years in the belief that we might need one someday. (Honey, are you sure we couldn't find a use for this automatic bowling ball hole cleaner? Note: We haven't gone bowling in the last decade or so.) When you grasp so many things so tightly, it can be hard to let go.

I am happy to report, at least in my case, that letting go gets easier the more you do it. In fact, it can be quite liberating!

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.