Find Your Middle Ground

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* To be Whole …

interconnected and opposite in nature

“To be whole, let yourself break.
To be straight, let yourself bend.
To be full, let yourself be empty.
To be new, let yourself wear out.
To have everything, give everything up.

Knowing others is a kind of knowledge;
knowing yourself is wisdom.

Conquering others requires strength;
conquering yourself is true power. “

Lao Tzu from The Tao Te Ching

These wise words remind me of the opposing nature of things and how acting in the opposite way may bring us what we yearn for. Knowing ourselves fully takes courage … to look at the opposing natures within ourselves.

What resonates with you?

Val T Boyko
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8 responses to “* To be Whole …”

  1. viewpacific Avatar
    viewpacific

    Yes they do seem like opposites. I wonder, though if the outside of a wheel and it’s center are really opposites. In one way of looking at them they are. However it’s the two together that make the wheel a wheel. In the same way, without bad days can we have good days, which together make life?

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    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Sometimes the words available to us limit how to describe the reality of what we mean. I like your wheel. Val x

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  2. In the Stillness of Willow Hill Avatar
    In the Stillness of Willow Hill

    Love the quote. I’ve been reflecting on opposites as well, so this had great meaning for me. I think that focusing on acceptance of opposites softens and bridges the (false) gap between two truths.

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    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you ISWH. We use the terms good and bad and opposites and polarities, because that is what we have come to believe them to be. If they are a part of the whole then there is no gap – just the acceptance that they are one and cannot be apart. Val x

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  3. Don Avatar
    Don

    Wonderful words and image.

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    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you Don. Glad you enjoyed it. The image spoke to me in many ways. Val x

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  4. Ben G Avatar
    Ben G

    I find that life has always taught me from these moments of contrasts. How would we cherish our life if we did not realize that it comes to an end? How would be cherish every single moment if we did not understand that it can be taken away at any instant? Life is a series of apparent contradictions, but it is through them that our spiritual evolution unfolds.

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    1. Val Boyko Avatar
      Val Boyko

      Thank you Ben for your insightful words. I agree, its through the challenges and apparent contradictions we grow and evolve as human beings.

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