Do not cramp or constrain your will , as that would cause you to depart from the Way. Do not strive for consistency in your actions, as that would cause you to lose sight of the Way. Be firm with yourself, never making excuses for your shortcomings. Be gentle with yourself, never demanding of yourself more than you can give. Let your mind be as open to the ideas of others, as a field without hedges is open to the four winds.
All living beings are born and die; you cannot depend upon them. All events start and finish; you cannot depend upon them. The years cannot be held back; time cannot be stopped. Growth and decay, fullness and emptiness, birth and death - the rythm of change cannot be halted. Life passes at a gallop; it is like a headlong dash toward death. With moment and every movement your body ages. What should you do and not do to prevent aging ? Nothing.
Yet if you follow the Way, and thence acquire perfect virtue, fire will not be able to burn you, water will not be able to drown you, cold and heat will not be able to discomfort you, and wild beasts will not be able to injure you. This is because you will be indifferent to fortune and misfortune, good and bad.
(teachings attributed to the Taoist scholar Zhuangzi)
from the book 366 Readings from Taoism & Confucianism.
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