Centered

“She who is centered in the Tao can go where she wishes, without danger. She perceives the universal harmony, even amid great pain, because she has found peace in her heart.” – Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu (Translation by Stephen Mitchell)

“We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move.” – Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu (Translation by Stephen Mitchell)

Staying centered or the image of a circle is one of the most recurring themes in the Tao Te Ching. (At least a dozen of the eighty-one verses by my count.). Why is this?

One reason might be that when you’re in the center, you have true perspective. A 360 degree view of everything.

Anyone who’s lived through a hurricane (I have. Hurricane Andrew in South Florida. Won’t ever forget it.) will tell you how eerily calm the eye is when it passes through.

Center yourself in the Tao. Detached. Observant. Tolerant. Be the eye in the storm. For yourself and others. Let the winds of chaos swirl around you but not through you.