Tao Te Ching 67 (Teaching 2)

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.

Simple in actions and in thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way thing are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.
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As I reread this teaching, I wondered which problems and challenges that I’ve encountered in my life would not have been overcome by greater simplicity, patience or compassion. Are there any?

I thought about problems and challenges in marriage, parenting, education, and the workplace – what differences would have come from living my life out of an abundance of these treasures? I thought about the problems and challenges that have unfolded in the solitary realms of my mind and heart – what would have come from a more simple view and from being more patient and compassionate with myself?

I might have been a better person by being closer to the source of being. I might have been more aligned with the light, energy and way of life. I might have found more peace and reconciliation with the people in my life. I might have been “wealthy” beyond measure because I possessed these great treasures.

Then I wonder: how will I live today and tomorrow?