Renegade Blogger

I like the ideas surrounding Taoism. Humility, going with the flow and not really flaunting your intelligence. The idea that one should try and help others and never really expect fame or fortune. I think it promotes a lifestyle that we need here in the states, a culture of respect and personal for intelligence and wisdom. However, while I think the states need more of this I don’t think it would work as a widely spread idea or practice here. Should a large part of the United States suddenly start to attempt to become Taoists there would be a select few that would suddenly take advantage of the situation. They could easily take credit for others actions and these few would simply thrive in the situations that Taoism presented to them. I’ve recently come to believe that humility should be a large part of everyone’s life, as it makes you, well, I think more respectable. Having the courage to play of a large, good act and say it was nothing, especially if it was is very admirable in my eyes.

Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all. ~William Temple

What a profound and foreign idea in our culture. Not thinking about yourself. I belive that as a person one should find the line between personal satisfaction and how one can achive that without going over and then help others…and then break it. A natural disaster or cause calls upon your house asking for money and sure you give, for that is easy. Its easy to part with 10, 20, or 50 dollars, but it is the people who continue their giving and support of the cause that are truly selfless. While they may continue on with their normal lives accept for an hour a day, or an hour a week when they donate their bodies, and the skills they posses, then one can truly define humility. I think its important to find a balance between living they way you want to live your life, without any outside interruptions and finding the time, effort and energy to help others. This process can take years, I can tell you I’ve only begun for my efforts to help a cuase far fall short of those required.