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life lessons that we can learn from
Confucius
Confucius was one of the greatest
eastern philosophers of all time whose
teachings deeply influenced East Asian
life and thought his philosophical
movement Confucianism emphasizes
morality honesty the importance of
social relationships and the belief that
man is fundamentally good and capable of
changing evolving and improving so here
are 10 lessons we can all learn from one
of China's most iconic historical
figures number one learn to see beauty
in everything Confucius says everything
has its beauty but not everyone sees it
in today's world our life is mostly made
up of routines and patterns many of us
live according to the rules that are
socially acceptable within the realm of
comfort while living repetitively and
dreaming of ways to escape in the modern
business of life it's hard to appreciate
the everyday beauty there are many
things in life that can irritate you
like traffic your kids throwing fits
stepping on Lego your computer running
slowly your pet throwing up on the
carpet losing your keys or your phone
just randomly stops working we always
fail to see the silver linings or the
bright side in reality the simple fact
that you're in the world and able to
experience anything at all is little
short of a miracle the sheer complexity
of all the events that have had to
happen in order for you to even exist
and to have a computer in the first
place to go slow is simply mind-boggling
consider just within your own body how
much is going on right now that just
happens without you even thinking about
it imagine if you had to think about
breathing or making your heartbeat or
even digesting your lunch all of this
and so much more is going on just so you
can watch this video and understand it
without dying it
that incredible and this detail doesn't
just exist in us it's in everything
around us so this means boredom is a
fiction that we tell ourselves instead
of admitting laziness to truly
understand this is to see that there
really is beauty detail and interest in
everything around you from the pile of
manure to the flowers that grow from it
if we look for the beauty in every
moment we can gain new insights and
understanding in our own lives and the
world were all living those lives in
number two moral values start at home in
the words of Confucius the strength of a
nation derives from the integrity of the
home moral values are a set of
principles guiding us to evaluate what's
right or wrong moral values such as
integrity determination loyalty
truthfulness honesty giving respect to
each other and so on helps shape the
character and personality of individuals
according to Confucius these moral
values can be best adopted at an
individual family level Confucius saw
the family as the sole origin and
foundation of the nation the family
being the smallest unit in the nation
plays a very important role in ensuring
the stability and progress of that
nation the principle adopted by
Confucius that people should not do to
others what they don't want to be done
to them is best applicable in the family
level it means people should treat
others as they would want to be treated
themselves as in if one wants to be
treated a certain way one should treat
others in that way if everyone were to
follow this rule everyone would be
treated well and by ensuring order and
harmony at an individual family level it
becomes automatic that the nation as a
whole will follow suit this is so
because a nation is a combination of
homes which are made up of different
family members it's only by cultivating
love among those family members that the
nation can in turn demonstrate love
without love and mutual respect by all
family members whether parent or child
it's impossible to instill the high
moral values we'd like to see everyone
achieve as such the more families that
do demonstrate mutual love
respect the more harmonious the
coexistence of the wider community where
the local national or global will
improve number three never do anything
half-heartedly to quote Confucius
wherever you go go with all your heart
some people succeed over others because
they give 100% to whatever they commit
to most of us commit to something but
usually give it a half-hearted effort it
means that you don't have that much
energy for it
you're not that motivated for it or
interested in doing it or inspired but
still participate in whatever you're
doing
most of us waste too much of our time
money and energy by not committing
wholeheartedly to something that's
important to us putting a half-hearted
effort into things that matter in life
means we're constantly falling short of
our potential our half-hearted effort is
still exhausting it consumes energy
without producing results it's stressful
it makes us feel like a failure when
we're not it's just that we haven't
fully committed to something which is
why we need to do everything
wholeheartedly we need to give our 100%
doing things wholeheartedly means you
bring your whole self to work and you
lead from your heart this way you'll be
more likely to be the person who cares
more shares more understands more says
more feels more hears more and is liked
more you can accomplish anything if you
do it with all your heart
number four never give up in the words
of Confucius it does not matter how
slowly you go as long as you do not stop
Confucius teaches us that it doesn't
matter if you're moving a step closer or
an inch closer to your dreams the most
important thing is that you keep moving
forward we all love to fall in love with
the idea of something grand
we love the thought of being a famous
tech entrepreneur far more than we love
sitting in a dark room for years on end
learning how to code and when we hit the
first roadblock we assume failure and
give up entirely because knowledge and
master over ask
wasn't the driving force the shiny
reward at the end was we need to
understand that success is a work in
progress the truth is you're going from
point A to point B so if you're
consistent well it might not happen in
the time frame that you'd expected
you'll surely reach where you want to go
in the end if you put in the daily
required effort and keep on developing
your skills just as there are common
steps that people take to achieve
success there are common steps people
take to fail so even if you do get stuck
do not change your goals no matter what
the difficulty is just change the
approach you take to get it number five
everyone has wisdom to share Confucius
says if I am walking with two other men
each of them will serve as my teacher I
will pick out the good points of the one
and imitate them and the bad points of
the other and correct them in myself
this is one of the great lessons of life
according to Confucius everyone around
us is a lesson and we should try to
learn everything we can from them there
are some things that we learn from books
by going to classes watching
presentations or listening to lectures
other things we learn from people by
observing analyzing imitating practicing
when we're open to learning from others
we benefit from their experience and we
can inherit their wisdom and knowledge a
good example is asking friends how they
find time to read one book a week the
best way to learn from people around you
is by having friends who are better than
yourself your friends are a guiding
light to your future as you are often
headed where they already are therefore
surround yourself with friends who are
going where you want to go who share
your values and convictions and drive
each other to be the best self you can
be learning from others is not a passive
process but one that requires work and
commitment on our part so pick out
qualities in others which you admire and
implement them and use negative
qualities as reminders of where you
don't want to go or get rid of bad
traits you might have yourself there is
always something to be learned
number six ignore gossips to quote
Confucius if they spit at you behind
your back it means you're ahead of them
there are seven billion people on this
planet out of which will roughly
encounter 25 to 30 thousand of them in
our brief lifetime at any phase of your
life there are going to be people who
are going to be more fortunate than you
and there are going to be people who are
going to be less fortunate unfortunately
some of them will gossip about your
fortunes behind your back
it feels pretty awful to have people
talk about you behind your back but
people usually do this for three main
reasons one when they can't reach your
level two when they don't have what do
you have and three when they try to copy
your lifestyle but can't a jealous
person won't come and tell you that he's
jealous of you normally say it directly
to one of his friends but instead his
jealousy will appear in the form of
hatred resentment and gossiping the
people who envy you the most are the
ones who are most in need of what you
possess for example your millionaire
friends never going to envy you if you
bought a new average priced car
but your friend who has no car is the
one who's most likely going to be
jealous of you good or bad people are
going to talk focus on the people who
care about and support you not the
people who gossip number seven think of
the consequences in the words of
Confucius when anger arises think of the
consequences
according to Confucius if were angry at
someone then we're defeated by them we
in the West believe that anger is not
always bad we believe that anger is
justified if one is angry at the right
time and in the right context
Confucius just like Seneca believes that
there is no such thing as a good amount
of anger and it is extremely important
to think of the consequences when an
emotion like anger arises anger is a
powerful emotion and it may have
destructive results for you and those
closest to you anger can lead to
arguments physical fights physical abuse
assault and self-harm
hence whenever you feel you're about
to get angry remove yourself from the
situation that's provoking you or
withhold all actions until you feel
yourself in a completely tranquil state
of mind to think of the consequences try
reading deep breathing meditating or
some other activity you find relaxing
this can relieve the tension in your
muscles and help you relax even after
taking the time off if you feel that
you're wronged you should choose to
forgive and move on because at the end
of the day to be wronged is nothing
unless you continue to remember it
number 8
practice the art of silence has been
learn from Confucius silence is a true
friend who never betrays silence is a
rare privilege in the modern world when
we're not talking with others we fill
our sonic space with different types of
media and with the advent of podcasts we
can always have something to listen to
for some of us the absence of sound is
almost startling as we feel
automatically compelled to turn on the
TV or radio
there are times throughout the day to
integrate silence into it if you keep an
eye out for them if you're a
stay-at-home parents you can dedicate
the first 15 minutes of nap time to a
silent house if you work consider
leaving your phone at your desk and
going for a walk on your lunch break
uninterrupted take five minutes during
the day to stare out the window and be
in the present moment silence is an
inner state in the absence of silence
you tend to get overtaken by the mind
body and emotions the clutter prevents
you from listening to your psyche and
soul to listen to your soul you need to
establish a strong relationship with
silence without it we might remain
unaware of many things about ourselves
silence
empowers you to think things through and
come up with solutions because it's only
in silence that you can truly listen
well that you can listen to the deepest
wisdom of your soul number nine practice
filial piety in the words of Confucius
there are three degrees of filial piety
the highest is being a credit to our
parents the second is not disgracing
them the lowest is being able simply
to support them filial piety is how
children show their gratitude by
repaying their parents for their
kindness love and caring people from
Asia are often more communal and family
orientated therefore children have more
respect for their elders and will take
care of aging parents in their own homes
until they die this is in contrast to
the majority of us in the West who are
unusually focused on individualism and
youth as a result it's all too common
for us to show little respect for
extended families and aging parents
we're so busy developing our own careers
raising kids and being absorbed in our
own lives that we tend to farm our aging
parents out to institutions according to
Confucius children should take care of
their aging parents for several reasons
to begin with they helped us to grow and
without them we wouldn't even be in this
world they provided us love shelter
clothes and medicine whatever we needed
at that time they also provided
education and taught us how we could
survive in the world parents always try
to prepare their children for the future
and they want to see them successful and
happy therefore one can argue that they
have a right to expect something from
their children in their old age so even
if you are far away occupied with your
busy life
you can practice filial piety by
maintaining frequent contact visiting
them more often stepping out with them
sending the money and so on our parents
made a lot of sacrifices for us in their
lives so we as children should show our
love and gratitude for elderly parents
by taking care of them number 10 embrace
getting older in our final piece of
wisdom from Confucius he tells us old
age believe me
is a good and pleasant thing it is true
you are gently shouldered off the stage
but then you are given such a
comfortable front stall as a spectator
when we turn 40 we suddenly find
ourselves slowing down gaining weight
and losing muscle tone we're less
energized than a few short years ago
a new study has concluded that people
with a positive attitude about getting
older live longer and have better mental
health
those who look at Aging
a bad thing are more likely to suffer a
heart attack a stroke or died several
years sooner hence we need to change our
perspective although there can be
declines in health and income the vast
majority of older adults enjoy
improvements in the emotional aspects of
life because they're more focused on
positive information while you might not
be able to do all the things you once
did when you were younger
there are ways you can compensate by
finding other activities that are just
as rewarding like finding something to
commit to improving whether it's tennis
or chess you can also focus on helping
others especially younger people we
really shouldn't forget the alternative
to aging is dying young we really hope
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