doing what you can

Garden planThere are so many reasons not to start.

Wouldn’t it be great if you just had everything perfectly prepared? It really would be better if you had all the information, elements, and resources needed before you started.

It’s obvious really. We have to avoid mistakes, false starts, making a fool of ourselves, and letting others down. Nobody would suggest that preparation is unneeded.

While all this can be ‘true’, sometimes we use the lack of 100% resources as an excuse – or sometimes we simply get trapped in the dreaming, wishing, planning phase and cyclical thinking.

Wu wei reminds us that any action should be in harmony with the world, flowing in Tao. Timing is vital.

Tzu-jan reminds us that our actions should be ‘just so’ and no more – that everything is as it should be.

Yet your te, your personal involvement in Tao and expression, requires that you walk your own path with integrity and power.

“Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.”

Squire Bill Widener

There is a line between excellent preparation and prevarication. As our skills develop, and as we flow with Tao, we can do more with less. Preparation takes a lifetime.

Often, it is valuable to take massive immediate action, rather than risk doing little, or nothing.

Sometimes we want to take the last step, first; we want to publish that book, and tend a beautiful garden. Take the first step, first. Write a page, plant a tree.

Image credit: jeredb

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