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Last summer I had gotten into a space where I was often working 60 or 70 hours a week. There always seems to be so much to do and that one might try just a little bit harder. By fall I was pretty worn out and after a particularly grueling stretch of 5 business trips in a row and burning the candle at both ends, I ended up with pneumonia. Nothing like 3 nights in the hospital to carve out some time for reflection.
As I have written in other Psychology Today blogs, for the last two years I have spent much of my time finding out more about the Laws of Life Essay program. The Laws of Life, according to the program’s founder, John Templeton, are universal values, such as the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you). These values are found in the great works of all cultures. Such ideas do not sit easy in the field of psychology, which is often about as relativistic as one can get.
I decided I needed some perspective and picked up the Analects of Confucius, my husband’s copy that has been sitting on our shelf, oh, probably for most of the 20 years we’ve been married. I enjoyed it more than I expected. Here are six of my favorite quotes, adapted slightly from the translation by Simon Leys (especially to make them gender neutral, one thing that has changed since the time of Confucius is that now we know wisdom is not only for men!):
1.16. Confucius said: “Don’t worry if people don’t recognize your merits; worry that you may not recognize theirs.”
7.5. Confucius said: “Failure to cultivate moral power, failure to explore what I have learned, incapacity to stand by what I know to be right, incapacity to reform what is not good—these are my worries.”
7.12. Confucius said: “If seeking wealth were a decent pursuit, I too would seek it, even if I had to work as a janitor. As it is, I’d rather follow my inclinations.”
8.7. A student of Confucius said: “A scholar must be strong and resolute, for the burden is heavy, and the journey is long. The burden is humanity, is this not heavy? The journey ends only with death: is this not long?”
15.15. Confucius said: “Demand much from yourself, little from others, and you will prevent discontent.”
19.7. A student of Confucius said: "The hundred artisans live in their workshops in order to perfect their crafts. A scholar keeps learning in order to reach the truth."
Looking at the ones that stood out to me now, I realize that these sayings, like much of the book, set pretty high standards for behavior. Still, I found them comforting. The book, especially taken as a whole, emphasizes continuing to walk the path. Slow and steady wins the race, I suppose. Also, not worrying so much what others think. Several of these can also probably be pretty well summarized with a very modern incarnation of the same piece of wisdom: "You do you."
Reading the Analects of Confucius helped me realize that I could keep a more reasonable and yet still steady pace, stick to "my inclinations" and continue on the journey. It is remarkable, really, that more than 2000 years ago people were struggling with the same challenges and trying to strike the same balance that can elude us today.
Reference:
Leys, Simon (Translator). (1997). The Analects of Confucius. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
© 2015 Sherry Hamby. Follow me on Twitter @Sherry_Hamby or visit my websites, http://lifepathsresearch.org, http://thevigor.org, and http://sherryhamby.com.
