The Way of the Superior Man 君子之道 Part 2
posted in Personal Development, The Law of Attraction, Bob Proctor, Motivation, Inspiration, Success, Self Improvement, Dream, Attraction Accelerator, Law of Attraction, Enthusiasm, Positive Thinking, Life, Power, mindset, believes, belief |In a 15th century religious reformist’s book, there is this little story that happened when he was young. This story changed his entire life.
One day, under a scorching sun, he passed by a huge worksite. The workers were moving bricks with sweat streaming down their backs. He did not know why they were doing it. He asked the first worker: “What are you doing?” The worker said gruffly: “Can’t you see? I am doing hard labour moving bricks.”
The young man still could not understand, so he asked the second worker: What are you doing?” This worker was milder and friendlier than the first one. He arranged the bricks in his hands and took a look and said: “I am putting up a wall.”
The young man went to ask the third worker: “What are you doing?” This worker’s face radiating with gentleness looked up, wiped away his sweat and told him proudly: “You are asking me? I am building a church!” We can see that the three workers were doing exactly the same job. But they had three levels of interpretation of their job.
The first level, he is a pessimist. In everything he does, he finds a reason to say this is hard labour that life gives me. He is right in a way. We need to work. We can see that work is tough. This is a reality.
The attitude of the second worker is a “professionalism” attitude. You know you are putting up a wall which is part of a product. This is your salary, your job function, your job title. You know that you have a duty to fulfill in your job. So you won’t perform below the baseline of your professionalism. But you don’t aspire to things at a higher level of attainment. What is this level? This is the level that Confucius describes as ‘qi” (implement). If you exist as an implement, you are qualified.
The third level is the level of idealist. You know that every brick, every drop of sweat now will eventually lead to a church. You know you have a final dream. You are embarking on this journey to realize this dream. Every step you take has a value. What you give will eventually be rewarded. When you are on such journey, whatever you do will never make you a mere implement. It is a simple principle. But it has a deeper meaning. After satisfying the requirements of a superior man at the various levels mentioned before, when you come to the stage of actual applications, do not be content with what you are doing, delve into the interpretation of the job at hand. See how it relates to your life, to your dream. See whether you, at your present position in society, will be able to build up a church. Perhaps your personal effort helps in building a church or perhaps having the dream of building a church helps you succeed as an individual.
