Third, wise
people weaken, soften, or temper their worldly ambitions, their desires to
become “someone” important or special in the world’s view, or to achieve
something external to themselves. Wise
people recognize that worldly ambition is fleeting and therefore weaken the
hold of such aspirations on their lives.
When our lives revolve around an external accomplishment, something like a promotion, a championship,
or even a career, we can often fall into the trap of defining ourselves by those
endeavors and when we don’t succeed or achieve we then run the risk of feeling
like an unaccomplished failure. This is not to say that
we shouldn’t aspire. No, we need dreams
and aspirations, we need a greater purpose that we can give ourselves to wholeheartedly
but we also need to remember that our if and when things don’t go our way that there is more to
us and our lives than our broken wings and unrealized dreams. Who we are is NOT based on what we do – good, bad, or ugly. Who we are is NOT based on our external achievements – our accomplishments or failures! So let us weaken the hold those worldly ambitions and aspirations have on our identity and our worth.
Lastly, wise
people strengthen their bones – their frame, their support structure. Just as our skeleton supports us, protects
us, and enables us to act and move in the world, so too does each of us need to
strengthen our bones – our core support structure and framework – to pursue our
dreams and aspirations. Just as strong bones are less vulnerable to breaking under the stress and strain of challenge, injury, or just the rigors of life, so to will a strong support structure and network empower us to persevere when the going gets tough. Whatever changes we want to make in our lives, whoever we want to help along the Way in this world, whatever impact we want to have on the lives of those around us, wherever we want to go or end up, whatever we want to achieve and accomplish with the time and energy we’ve been given,
there is always a Way and there are tools and resources, individuals and organizations
that will help and support you. Seek out
people with the same dreams, surround yourself with encouraging voices, create
a network, a structure of support – and be that for others on the Way. We need not walk the path alone. ~ DCB
Translation
Notes: The character to “weaken” is an ideogram depicting a pair of bird wings. The idea is that wings are fragile, delicate,
and “weak” in the sense that they are easily damaged or broken – so to with our
worldly ambitions – they are fleeting. I am reminded of a story about a group of birds. Every day, the birds walked to the feeding ground and flew about, dancing and darting and eating all they could. Then, once they had eaten their fill. The walked home to their nests. For a more elaborate and in depth treatment of this theme, check out the novella Jonathan Livingston Seagull by American author Richard Bach who artfully teaches us that our "wings" are designed for far more than just "providing" for ourselves. Most importantly, while our "wings" can help us take flight and soar to new heights, we must always remember that we are more than just those fragile feathers. The
character for “worldly ambition” (zhì)
is both picto-phonetic and a compound ideogram.
The top part 士 referred to a social class of servicemen – those who served rulers
as warriors, artisans, scholars, and skilled craftsmen – anyone with a trade or
talent that could be of use. When the
text of The Way and the Power of Virtue 道德經 was composed, the servicemen class the
most upwardly and socially mobile class during the Warring States period (453-221
BCE) and someone could move from rags to riches with an innovative idea. The bottom half of the character is the heart 心, which refers to
both the heart and mind as the seat of human emotion and thought. Taken together, the character for “worldly
ambition” refers to the heart and mind of someone who seeks to move up in the
world.
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