WoonZai

Acceptance

I’ve learnt to be more comfortable with myself, and to enjoy every single moment of my life. I was able to appreciate other forms of lives on this world other than myself. I was able to appreciate the bus that took me to school everyday. I was able to keep my mind calm and happy from noises made by young kids and adults on the bus. It was a liberating feeling that I have never felt before.

I’ve accepted that I’m an insignificant piece of life in this whole world, and that I have to fulfill my purpose in this world. Right now, it appears that my priority is to write software, and to simplify the world.

Other people are talented and goal-oriented; I alone am dull and confused. Other people project an aura of success; I seek not to project any aura. Other people have a portfolio full of achievements; I have no achievements that I deem worthy to publicize. Other people work well under pressure; I don’t feel pressure when working.

We are born without knowing rules, and brought up learning them. Thus, I follow no rules in my life. I have no to-do list, and no 10-year goals. I have no obligatory attachment to anyone; I have with me compassion. There never was one approach to do things, and there never will be. Laws, rules, social rituals, and best practices are flawed instruments to dictate one way of doing things. In the absence of court trials, people will live in harmony. In the absence of traffic rules, there will be no accidents. In the absence of rules, nobody will be cheated. In the absence of social rituals, there will be no divorces, adulteries, orphans, or irresponsible children. In the absence of best practices, businesses will be more efficient.

Companies seek talents to work with them; I seek those who are interested. Companies value talent with career paths and high compensation. I value workers with no ambition. Meritocracy creates competition. Competition polarizes companies instead of accepting each other. It creates a false sense of self-importance, which causes excessive consumption, arrogance and callousness.

A person who sulks and grumbles does not accept the world, and is not living with the Tao. He is ambitious and sets lofty goals. He strives to achieve. He strives to be recognized. He strives to stand out. He competes against the rest. Because of that he does not achieve. He is not recognized and he does not stand out. By competing with others, he wins the battle but lose the war.

A person living with the Tao does not compete, does not strive to achieve, nor be recognized. He’s only attached to three treasures, which acts as both his weapon and armor - Compassion, frugality, and being insignificant. He genuinely enjoys life, and accepts things when they happen. Because he does not compete, he wins. Because he does not strive to achieve, he achieves. Because he does not seek to be recognized, he’s recognized.

Thus I try not to compete. I try not to achieve. I seek not to be recognized. I try to work without thinking. I no longer want to understand why events happened the way they are, but I seek to how I can accept them. I am good to those that are good to me; I am good to those that are bad to me. Who am I to judge who is right or wrong, when these judgments are but an illusion of what I perceived. If I polarize who is good and who is bad, I am not accepting the Tao. By accepting everyone, I am at one with the Tao.