Tao Te Ching Part Nine

“Better to stop short than fill to the brim.
Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.”

A lot of modern stress, anxiety and illness is the result of our modern stressful living. We seem to have lost the art of pacing ourselves, we are constantly pressured to do more, to become more and push ourselves beyond our limits. To not ‘fill to the brim or oversharpen the blade’ is good advice to stop at the point that where we can improve but not go too far.

“Amass a store of gold and jade, and no one can protect it.
Claim wealth and titles, and disaster will follow.”

Another strange habit of our society is to collect more than we need, it’s a form of mental illness and needs to be recognised and in doing so we make ourselves the target of others by making those that don’t have enough suffer. To elevate ourselves with unnecessary titles also betrays a weakness where we feel that we are not enough.

“Retire when the work is done.
This is the way of heaven.”

To know when to stop, to be aware of when we’ve done enough, to be able to pass the baton on when the time is right, is to be in harmony with ourselves and nature.