Lao Tzu's Delightful Story That Could Be a Lesson for You in Decision Making

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2 years ago
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The Chinese thinker Lao Tzu (Laozi), who is considered to be the founder of Taoism, told a very good story about decision making.

There is a wisdom story. This is a story that Lao Tzu, whose name means "old wise", loved to tell:

There was an old man in a village. He was very poor, but even the king was jealous of him. He had such a legendary white horse that the king offered almost all of his treasure to the old man for this horse, but the man refused to sell it. He always said, "This horse is not a horse for me; a friend will sell a human friend." That's up one morning, no horse. The villager gathered at the head of the old man: "You old fool, it was clear that they would not leave this horse to you, they would steal it. If you had sold it to the king, you would have lived like a gentleman for the rest of your life. Now you have neither money nor horse."

The old man said, "Don't be in a hurry to make a decision." "Just say the horse is missing, because that's the truth. Beyond that, it's your interpretation and the decision you made. Is the loss of my horse a misfortune or a chance? We don't know yet. Because this is just the beginning. No one knows how it will turn out."

The villagers laughed at the old man. After 15 days passed, the horse suddenly returned one night. It turned out that it was not stolen, but went to the mountains by itself. On his way back, he brought the 12 wild horses in the valley after him. Seeing this, the villagers gathered and apologized to the old man. "Father," they said, "you were right. The loss of your horse is not a misfortune, it has become a state bird for you, now you have a herd of horses."

"You're in a hurry to decide again," said the old man. "Just say the horse is back. That's the only known fact. We don't know yet what's beyond that. This is just the beginning."

This time, the villagers did not make fun of openly, but they made fun of "this man is mentally unstable". less than a week later, the only son of the old man, who was trying to tame the wild horses, fell off the horse and broke his foot. The son, who provided for the house, would now stay in bed for a long time. The villagers came to the old man again. They said, "Because of these horses, your only son will not be able to use his leg for a long time. And yet you have no one else to look after you. Now you will be poorer and more miserable than before."

The old man replied, "You are sick of early decision making." "Don't be in such a hurry, my son broke his leg, that's the truth, it's your decision. Life comes in such small pieces and you are not told what will happen after that."

A few weeks later, the enemies attacked with a massive army. With a last hope, the king summoned all the young men who could hold a gun to the army. The officials who came to the village recruited all the young people except the old man's son with the broken leg. mourned the village. Because it was impossible to win the war, everyone knew that the young people who left would either die or be captured. the villagers came to the old man again. "You've been proven right again," they said. "Your son's leg is broken, but at least he's with him. While ours may never come back. It turns out it was luck, not misfortune, that your son's leg was broken."

"You keep making decisions early," said the old man, "but no one knows what will happen. There is only one known fact, my son is with me, yours is in the military. But only God knows which of them is luck and which is bad luck."

"Don't make a hasty decision. Avoid looking at a small slice of life and making a decision about the whole. Decision is the state of mind to stop. Once you have decided, the mind stops thinking and developing. Despite this, the mind always forces people to make a decision and makes people uneasy. However, the trip never ends. It doesn't end. As one path ends, another begins. As one door closes, another opens. You reach a goal and you see a higher goal right there." -lao tzu

...

Psychological and neurological studies agree on this; In addition to the mind that collects facts and data, weighs positive and negative situations, each individual has a decision-making mechanism based on the senses.

Psychologist Maja Storch says, "Every person incorporates both intellect and sensory impulses into decision-making to varying degrees." a pinch of intellect, a teaspoon of emotion...

but still the decision making process is every person's nightmare. In these cases, storch "what is the worst that can happen if my decision is wrong?" He says that you should ask yourself the question and trust your intuition. , Dutch scientist ap dijksterhuis is one of those who say "trust your intuition". but intuition does not mean prejudice. whatever happens, it is very important not to be biased when making a decision. Measuring and reaping, avoiding sudden and hasty decisions as much as possible can be the recipe for reaching the right decisions. because as in the lao tzu story, nothing is as it seems.

decisions may not be perfect; we are not perfect. Therefore, life is always about correcting the previous one.

Andre Gidé, following the footsteps of Lao Tzu, said: "It is the law of life: when one door closes before us, another opens. But we are so sorry for the loss that we do not even pay attention to the one that has just opened."

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