Change Your Thoughts - Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao

by Wayne W. Dyer

The Tao works with Divine timing, so everything is completed precisely as it should be.

Even if you think that what you want is late, in reality it is all on time.

Everything is on time under heaven’s net.

Don’t see caution as a weakness or an expression of fear.

Be an active listener.

Rather than attempting to control others by speaking frequently and loudly, allow yourself to become an active listener.

Many of the answers you seek (and the results you expect) from others will surface if you can remember not to speak or even ask. Try living in ac...

There’s still someone underneath the external layers, though, so when you know and understand who that formless someone is, your fear of dying will evaporate.

Since death is as much a part of the Tao as life, it must be allowed to be in accord with nature, not performed as an ego decision.

A reverence for life as a form of the Tao helps us all realize that we’re not in charge of death decisions.

Remember that you are not this body—you are a piece of the infinite Tao, never changing and never dying.

So you’re invited to change the way you look at assisting others to stay inspired and have contented and peaceful lives.

Demand little, he advises, and even leave people alone as much as possible.

Rather than demanding more because you’re older, bigger, richer, or more powerful, leave those you’re in charge of alone whenever feasible, trusting in their inherent wisdom to do the right thing.

I don’t tell her what time to come to work, what to wear, or how to talk to people; and my reward for being a boss

with minimal demands is someone who’s fiercely loyal, who can be depended on to do the right thing, who loves her job, and who is indispensable to me.

you weigh yourself down with excessive demands, you’ll wear yourself out or develop symptoms of depression, anxiety, worry, heart disease, or any number of physical ailments.

Give yourself a break from self-imposed pressures that burden you, allowing yourself plenty of free time to commune with nature, play with your children, read, see a movie, or just do nothing.

A man is born gentle and weak; at his death he is hard and stiff. All things, including the grass and trees, are soft and pliable in life; dry and brittle in death. Stiffness is thus a companion of death; flexibility a companion of life. An army that cannot yield will be defeated. A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. The hard and stiff will be broken; the soft and supple will prevail.

If we see strength as being hard, inflexible, and unyielding, he invites us to change that perception. Life, according to Lao-tzu, is defined as soft and pliable.

You’re reminded that rigidity and hardness accompany

death, while pliability and even weakness are the companions of life. You may have been taught that strength is measured by how “hard” you are in your thinking or how inflexible you are in your opinions, and that weakness is associated with those who bend. But when confronted with any stressful situation, keep in mind that being stiff won’t get you very far, whereas being flexible will carry you through.

The same is true for the way you relate to others, so listen more, allow your viewpoints to be challenged, and bend when necessary,

By listening, yielding, and being gentle, we all become disciples of life.

“When it is surplus, it reduces; when it is deficient, it increases.” Observe nature, says Lao-tzu: If deficiencies exist, don’t continue to reduce what’s already in short supply.

For example, there’s the surplus of joy you feel that you can offer to yourself and your family.

Then there’s the excess of intellectual prowess, talent, compassion, health, strength, and kindness you can share with the world.

Whenever you see deficiencies in joy, abundance, educational opportunities, perfect health, or sobriety, mak...

Practice giving by dedicating a portion of your earnings to be used to ease deficits, for as Lao-tzu points out,

If you can’t offer money to those who are less fortunate, say a silent blessing for them. Offer a prayer when you hear an ambulance’s or police car’s siren. Look for opportunities to fill the empty spaces in other people’s lives with money; things; or loving energy in the form of kindness, compassion, joy, and forgiveness.

Nothing in the world is softer and weaker than water.

Water is as mysterious to us as the Tao is. When you reach into the river and try to squeeze it tight, you end up losing it all.

“The weak overcomes the strong” is a powerful message for you.