The Less You Care, The Happier You’ll Be | Taoist Wisdom For An Overly Serious World
A long time ago, Confucius and his students walked on a road to the kingdom of Wei. They stumbled upon a hermit at least a hundred years old. The man was gathering some grain that farmers had dropped, and he was singing while doing so.
One of the students, a young man named Tzu-Kung, was confused. He couldn’t comprehend why the old hermit was so happy, as he must have been very poor and alone, having to scour for harvest scraps. Tzu-Kung walked over to the hermit and showed compassion for his sad fate. But the old man smiled and said: “Why do you feel sorry for me? Am I that pathetic in your eyes?”
“Well, sir,” Tzu-Kung said, “I assumed you didn’t work hard in your younger years and didn’t care about success and status. And so you couldn’t find a wife and have children to look after you. You’re all alone. How could you laugh and sing?”
“Listen, young man,” the hermit said, “I laugh and sing because I feel happy! If I had worked hard in my younger years, competing with others, I wouldn’t have gotten so old and healthy. And not having a wife and children? That’s great. I don’t have to worry about their lives either. It’s peaceful. Why shouldn’t I laugh and sing?”
This story is from a Taoist scripture called Lieh Tzu. It shows a typical Taoist way of thinking, namely, that there’s always gain in what we perceive as loss. Even though the elderly man is not conventionally well-off, he is quite the archetypical “loser” in today’s language; he’s well aware of his many blessings in disguise.
But for most people, it’s probably challenging to have this attitude. We’re easily swayed by societal standards and concerned with other people’s opinions. This is where Taoist philosophy becomes especially valuable. It contains the wisdom to worry less, not just about what other people think but about almost anything. Isn’t that something we need today?
Just look around—distractions are everywhere, and times are changing rapidly. Life is stressful and demanding, with many suffering from burnout and depression and others on the verge. This video shares three insights from ancient Taoist sages to help you care less in an overly serious world. If you want to support Einzelgänger, consider joining my Patreon page, which allows access to ad-free videos and free merch. Thank you, and I hope you’ll enjoy this video.
The Taoist sage Zhuangzi observed long ago how people are hung up on things like fame, wealth, and status. In his time, people pursued luxuries, such as expensive food and fine clothes, and traveled to far places to enjoy the sights. Today, we see nothing has changed. Moreover, our modern-day media constantly pressures us to live a high life. Our tendency to seek out that new, shiny thing, whether luxury or experience, is being exploited.
The more lavish, the better. Society teaches us to have great careers, big houses, nice cars. We get raised under the imperative to be successful and, if possible, wealthy. Material success, status, and achievement are the metrics by which we decide people’s worth. It’s what the world “honors,” argues Zhuangzi. “If they do not got these things, they are very sorrowful and go on to be troubled with fears,” he said.
Once you commit yourself to pursuing all these celebrated external things, it seems to be never enough. Once you get a nice car, you will likely want a better one. Once you have your dream house, things get old quickly; the luxury no longer feels that special. The euphoric happiness generated by this once so-much-desired (but pricey) house fades into normalcy. But despite not feeling much happier in the long run, you still have to make your mortgage payments.
Over time, you become trapped—a slave to your possessions. From Zhuangzi’s viewpoint, this is a stressful mode of living. People living like this wear themselves out. “This is a stupid way to treat the body,” he stated. And isn’t he correct, looking at the rates of burnout, anxiety, and depression in modern-day so...