13 寵辱若驚 貴大患若身

老子道德經第十三章

寵辱若驚 貴大患若身
何謂寵辱若驚
寵為上 辱為下
得之若驚　失之若驚 是謂寵辱若驚
何謂貴大患若身
吾所以有大患者 為吾有身
及吾無身 吾有何患
故貴以身為天下 若可寄天下
愛以身為天下 若可托天下

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THIRTEEN

Accept disgrace willingly,
Accept misfortune as the human condition.

What do you mean by "Accept disgrace willingly"?
Accept being unimportant.
Do not be concerned with loss or gain.
This is called "accepting disgrace willingly."

What do you mean by "Accept misfortune as the human condition"?
Misfortune comes from having a body.
Without a body, how could there be misfortune?

Surrender yourself humbly; then you can be trusted to care for all things.
Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things.

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ah san's version:

Lao Tsu says,
"Good fortune or bad fortune,
People are always scared;
And so important is their bodies,
They are always afraid."

But what does he mean?

Fortunes are man-made concepts,
So of course they are scary good or bad.
Body is not the real Self,
And therefore it can be worrisome.

Therefore Lao Tsu says,
Let the world be your body,
Love people as you love yourself,
And then you can rule the world.

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(ST)

Winning can be just as bad as losing.
Confidence can mess you up
just as much as fear.

What does
"winning can be just as bad as losing" mean?

If you're down,
you might be able to get up.
But if you're up,
you can get knocked down real fast.
Don't worry about the score,
just do what you have to do.

What does
"confidence can mess you up
just as much as fear" mean?

Fear can keep you
from getting the job done,
but confidence
can get you in over your head.
Walk tall, but don't get cocky.

Know your limits,
and nothing can ever hold you back.
Deal with what you can.
The rest will follow.