The past few weeks have been hectic for me. I’ve been busy. At times, I have felt overwhelmed. This is not unusual for any of us. It seems sometimes that life is just a constant succession of meeting deadlines and due dates. When do we get a break?!
It often feels that the fate of the world rests on our proficient completion of the work we have in front of us. Thankfully, I have been able to calm my mind through philosophy. Philosophy has shown me that being busy is not the big deal we make it out to be. Being busy can be stressful and exhausting, but only if we let it be.
The Big Picture
Last Spring, I took a course on leadership. One of my assignments was to interview a leader about their thoughts on leadership. I chose to interview one of the teachers of the course, Zach, who I knew was a fellow student of Taoism.
At the time of the interview, I was running the Honors Student Leadership Board and was having difficulty motivating my fellow Board members to undertake certain tasks. This was frustrating. I was incredibly busy and was doing all the heavy lifting for the Board. All I was asking for was a little help.
I asked Zach what Taoism would tell me to do in this situation. He told me that a true Taoist would see the big picture. If the tasks did not get completed, the Taoist sage would recognize it was okay. The assignments that were causing me so much stress were so small in the grand scheme of my life.
Does it Matter?
Zach’s response was hard for me to accept. I guess I could see how accomplishing tasks is meaningless in the grand scheme of the universe, but it felt important to me at the time. Was I really making a big deal out of nothing?
I pressed Zach by pushing his logic to the extreme. “If nothing matters, should I just do nothing and abandon my responsibilities?” “If you did, it wouldn’t matter anyway,” Zach responded, “but that is not the way of the Tao.” Zach reminded me of a few quotes from the Tao Te Ching. First, from chapter 73:
Heaven’s net is vast. Loose, and yet does not let anything slip through.
No matter what we do, the universe remains the same. How we live our life does not matter to the universe. Heaven’s net is vast, anything is possible. Nothing slips through, every possibility is considered. Yet, some ways of living are in harmony with “this net” of possibilities. Therefore, those who live according to the Tao appear to live better lives.
Living Harmoniously
The universe is indifferent to how we live our lives. When we are deluded into believing otherwise, we do not live in harmony with the way of nature. Taoism tells us that those who contend with the universe are asking for trouble. We are better served if we move through life with careful resolve, respect, and understanding of our insignificance in the infinite universe.
Chapter 73 of the Tao Te Ching reminds us of this fact:
The bold in daring will be killed. The bold in not daring will survive.
Chapter 21 is similar:
The appearance of the Great virtue follows only the Tao.
In light of this wisdom, let’s return to the question I posed to Zach. Going forward, should I simply do nothing and abandon responsibility? I could. But that wouldn’t be enjoyable. Instead, I should see the big picture and live my life conscious of its implications. Essentially, I should understand that anxiety about being busy is useless and irrational.
Daring or Courageous?
There is a difference between being daring and being courageous. Daring people throw caution to the wind and pursue status, wealth, and power. They pack their schedules, are always busy, and are never satisfied or complacent with their level of success. Yet, being daring in these ways will only lead to stress and an insatiable desire for more attainment. This is not a sustainable way of life; ultimately, the daring person always succumbs to the strain caused by their lifestyle.
Being courageous, on the other hand, entails being resolute and firm. It takes courage to acknowledge our insignificance. It’s scary to accept the futility of our efforts in the big picture, but it’s the truth. Courageous people never lose sight of this truth. They realize no task is so important that it should cause us acute stress. They understand that there is no reason to rush through life or chase worldly desires such as status and wealth. And the Tao rewards them for their courage. Courageous people find that they achieve their objectives too, but they are not burdened by the chronic stress and fear that accompanies the lifestyle of a daring person.
The bold who strive for accomplishments, praise, and status—those who view failure as catastrophic—will be overcome by the trials of life. The bold who don’t strive for these things will persevere amidst all the challenges presented by life.
Focusing on Character
My whole life I thought that the goal of life was to rack up accomplishments. I thought the good life consisted of a steady procession of accumulating knowledge, refining skills, getting things done, and repeating the cycle. Now, I realize that none of this matters as much as I believed.
Sure, accomplishments, knowledge, and skills are great, but they should never be the goal. Cultivating my character should be the goal. Possessing good character—being honest, principled, compassionate, selfless, couraegous, and aware of our smallness in the universe—is more important than possessing good skills.
One of the most highly regarded leaders of all time, Ernest Shackleton, understood this. Ernest Shackleton was an English South Pole explorer in the early 20th century. In 1914, he was gearing up to embark on an ambitious expedition in which he and his men would sail directly through the continent of Antarctica. When he was looking for crew members, Shackleton placed more value on character than skill. An acquaintance of Shackleton recalled his interviewing process as follows:
Shackleton said—he had to balance his types too, and their science or seamanship weighed little against the kind of chaps they were. Shackleton looked for qualities he associated with optimism, a personal trait he felt was essential for men undertaking a potentially dangerous and difficult mission.
Koehn, N. Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance Shackleton’s Early Life (Harvard Business Review)
Shackleton’s journey took a disastrous turn when their ship wrecked. He never did travel through Antarctica, but he was able to bring all 28 men to safety after 18 months. This feat was never accomplished on any previous journey to the South Pole. Today, Shackleton is recognized as a remarkable leader because of his character. He persevered in the face of adversity, was never overcome by anxiety, maintained high morale among his crew, and was not afraid to abandon his original goal in order to save his men.
The Accomplishments Will Come
Shackleton’s success stems from his prioritizing principles over success. This is the mark of good character. The best leaders see the big picture, they can effectively handle their emotions and anxieties, and they stay flexible, always having the maturity to change direction if need be. They do not let their desire to be successful override these principles.
Yet, the best leaders are successful despite not prioritizing success. Author of The Socrates Express, Eric Weiner, uses the example of Gandhi to elaborate on this phenomenon:
Gandhi was not results-oriented. He was process-oriented. He aimed not for Indian independence but for an India worthy of independence. Once this occurred, her freedom would arrive naturally, like a ripe mango falling from a tree. Gandhi didn’t fight to win. He fought to fight the best fight he was capable of fighting. The irony is that this process-oriented approach produces better results than a results-oriented one.
We will find that by seeing the big picture and prioritizing good character over achievements—in other words, by following the Tao—we will be more respected and more successful than those who chase success. However, our success is not our goal. High grades, impressive job titles, and respect from your peers and superiors are superfluous. When we look back on our life, how popular, successful, or wealthy we were will not matter to us. Living our life in pursuit of accomplishments is counter-productive to living a rewarding life. As author of Excellent Sheep William Deresiewicz puts it:
The only real grade is this: how well you’ve lived your life.
If we follow the Tao, success will follow, but more importantly we will find inner peace and enjoyment in life.
Finding Time for Life
So, how do we handle being busy? We see the big picture. A big picture perspective will ease our mind of the stress of being busy. We won’t fear being a “failure”. The fear of failure is like a vacuum sucking the enjoyment out of life. When we are busy, we should try and get our work done, but we should not worry if it does not get done, it’s not the end of the world. Life goes on. A missed assignment or bad grade is merely a blip in the grand scheme of our life.
Finding time to breathe and re-focus is more important than chasing an elusive state of perfection. Often, we make ourselves busy in the present so we won’t be busy in the future. But we are always going to be busy. Amidst all this “busy-ness”, when do we have time to be present?
As said, I have been busy these past few weeks, but I have made sure to find ten minutes to meditate every day. Meditating helps me return to the big picture. It helps me focus on developing character instead of chasing success and living in fear of failure. Accomplishments are great but I will not salivate over them. That is the way of the Tao. Chapter 15 reads:
One who holds this Tao does not wish to be overfilled.
How can I live well if being busy invites acute stress into my life? Seeing the big picture enables me to recognize that I might as well enjoy life while I’m here. There is no time to save enjoyment for when I am not busy. I must find time to take in the moment, feel the sensations caused by my breathing. “Busy-ness” will not rob me of my peace. I will be present. I hope that you will too.