An ancient Chinese principle can help you get comfortable with doing less—and make you happier, too
Embrace the wisdom of the ancients. Discover how an age-old Chinese principle could be the key to finding comfort in doing less, while simultaneously enhancing your happiness. Prepare to challenge modern norms and explore a different path to fulfillment.
The Chinese concept of wu wei-strategic non-action-has helped me do just that.
Stopping trying to force action and getting comfortable doing less
- When we do move, our actions are natural, energetic, and accomplish the desired results
- Stillness preserves us for action when necessary
Wu wei shows that when we stop making waves, and learn to wait and watch, we see outside forces more clearly and make wiser moves
Act hastily, and every step is a potential blunder, with emotion and ego driving our decisions more than reason
- By not acting, we conserve energy so that we can expend it when the moment is right
In 2012, I was an underemployed lawyer in Brooklyn, doing temporary work by day and painting street art by night
I considered applying to medical school just to have some plan, but I was already drowning in law school debt.
- I feel sick at the sight of blood.
Being still requires courage and confidence that there is a place for you in a big, chaotic universe.
Storing up energy, knowing that things would change, she waited for things to change, and when they did, they did – and they often did not change fast.
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