Smart and Easy
We often hear about the benefits and hear the plaudits of people being hard workers. Moving heavy stones in a garden requires hard work. There are many things that require hard work. However, sometimes the call is for smart and easy, not hard and stupid. We work harder than we need to. This may be because of a lack of understanding on our part. We complicate the simple because we think the simple cannot be the right way because it is too simple. We turn a clear stream into a muddy one by overdoing. We fail to let wu-wei take its course. Sometimes yin is needed and we are busy applying yang. Hard work has its time and place, but so does being smart and taking it easy. Do not overdo, do not complicate, do not muddy the waters by insisting on hard work. Sometimes the hardest work to do may be not doing anything.
