Personal Reflections on the Tao

A mother's passing. A father's dementia. A friend's cancer diagnosis. Hospital visits. An understaffed work environment. Three grad school papers to write within a week. Stress.

Stop. Breathe. Yin and yang. "Yin understanding and wisdom must be balanced with yang energy to realize their own qualities" (p. 7). "Immortality is won by acquiring the wisdom of acceptance, taking what comes along. In going along with things, an individual avoids becoming separated from them" (p. 7). Go with it. Go with the flow. To not go with it is to be stagnant, at a standstill.

My mother's loss marks 60 years of love and kindness bestowed on a daughter--thank you, Mom. My father's descent into dependence means an opportunity for me to give back to a man who has done so much for his children. The cancer is treatable and has brought me closer to an already close friend. The children I teach bring me joy and make me laugh! The papers are complete and I survive--and thrive!

Life goes on. "All things, events, and beings are varying and unequal combinations of yin and yang in unceasing motion without beginning or end" (p. 7).

Coming next: Wrap up and final thoughts on the book, The Tao of Teaching.