One of the first things you should teach your children is asking questions: the whys and the why-nots. Life is habit-forming. Once children develop this mental concept of asking questions, they will like to ask questions for the rest of their lives. Asking questions is self-enlightenment, which plays a pivotal role in wisdom. To live well, you need wisdom, not just knowledge and expertise. The latter may give you a successful career, while the former provides you with the key to the art of living well. One of the essential ingredients in wisdom is self-intuition, which involves asking questions to find out not just one's true self or nature, but also the reality of all things.
According
to Lao Tzu, an ancient Chinese sage, knowing yourself is true wisdom.
“Knowing others is
intelligence.
Knowing ourselves is
true wisdom.
Overcoming others is
strength.
Overcoming ourselves
is true power.”
(Lao
Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 33)
“Who
you are” determines where you are going, what
you are going to do, and what kind of a
person you are going to become for the rest of your life. Nobody can answer
those questions for you, because nobody knows you better than you know
yourself. People can be your mentors or role models; they can even provide you with a road map or even a compass. But only you can decide where you are going to turn or make a detour along your life journey, and this is where wisdom comes in.
Life
is all about asking questions, internalizing them in your mind, and finding
appropriate answers to those questions asked. Asking questions is
introspection, which is a process of self-reflection, without which there is no
self-awareness and hence no personal growth and development. A static life is
not worth living. Therefore, asking questions is self-empowering wisdom—a
life-skill tool to trigger a
set of mental answers, leading to actions or reactions based on the choices you
make from the answers you have obtained. It is the natural habit of the human
mind to try to solve problems by making things happen. According to Samuel Butler, “Life is the art of drawing
sufficient questions from insufficient premises.”
Finding
out who you really are also determines your physical, emotional, intellectual,
and, spiritual needs. They all play a pivotal part in your life because they not only
determine your attitude towards the challenges and changes you may encounter, but also define your purpose in your life.
Socrates once said: “An
unexamined life is not worth living.” Examine your life with Tao wisdom. There is much to learn from this ancient wisdom from China.
Tao wisdom is the essence in the art of living well, It is the profound wisdom of Lao Tzu, the author of the immortal classic Tao Te Ching, one of the most translated works in world literature. The book has been popular for thousands of years due to its wisdom, which is simple but controversial, profound and yet intriguing. To fully understand it, you need to get all the essentials of Tao wisdom. Click here for more details.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
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