The TAO of STEEM - Part 2: Even the end is just a new beginning

in #steem6 years ago

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Welcome to Part 2 of the TAO of STEEM!
In case you missed PART 1, you should most definitely read it, because we covered the very basics there.
STEEM is many things at once and if you follow me, you will even realize, that STEEM can be a spiritual path too - a playing field, where you train your spiritual skills

So let us continue, with the Tao te Steem - the path of success at STEEM:

6. Be authentic. Be ordinary.

“Not putting on a display, they shine forth. Not justifying themselves, they are distinguished. Not boasting, they receive recognition. Not bragging, they never falter. They do not quarrel, so no one quarrels with them.” – Lao Tse (Chapter 22, Tao Te Ching)

The most direct path to be successful at STEEM is to just be yourself.
This may sound obvious, but it´s not easy. Many people have learned to wear masks - especially on social media - with which they believe to get more love, attention and appreciation. In a way, it´s an exaggeration of personality traits and an investment in something that is not you.
Dare to be ordinary. You wouldn’t believe, how what seems to be ordinary to you, can be interesting for other people. Remember, that it seems only ordinary to you, because you live with yourself every day.

7. Wu Wei

“The world is ruled by letting things take their course. It cannot be ruled by interfering.”– Lao Tse (Chapter 48, Tao Te Ching)

Wu Wei means „doing by not doing“. It doesn’t mean to just sit on your couch and watch STEEM quietly doing nothing. It simply means to not interfere with the natural flow of life.
So if you watch whales on Steemit in flag wars, don’t interfere and don’t take sides. The moment you are taking sides, you are giving them their attention, which will drain your Voting Power (attention) and powering the fight even more, resulting in what is known as „reward pool rape“.
Refrain from reacting blindly and following momentary emotions of like/dislikes. Let things take their natural cause.

8. Being is true action.

“A truly good man does nothing, yet leaves nothing undone. A foolish man is always doing, yet much remains to be done.” – Lao Tse (Chapter 38, Tao Te Ching)

This follows naturally out of the previous points. The more you trust your true self and that what you are is enough, and the less you act wildly out of momentary emotions, the more things you will accomplish on STEEM.
The question only is, from which place you are acting?
Are you posting and commenting out of old compulsive patterns, driven by collective emotions or are you at peace with yourself and what you are and what you post are in perfect alignment?
The more you trust in „I am good enough“, the more rewarding your posts will be.

9. Wise man don’t take themselves too serious

„Watchful, like men crossing a winter stream. Alert, like men aware of danger. Courteous, like visiting guests. Yielding like ice about to melt. Simple, like uncarved blocks of wood.” – Lao Tse (Chapter 15, Tao Te Ching)

Humor is a great thing! This is especially true here on STEEM. Let’s start by making this humor about yourself and don’t take yourself too serious.
Humor gives perspective. If you have zoomed in too much on your own experience, you lose the bigger picture out of sight.
This way, humor gives you the much needed distance and prevents you from one of the biggest traps on the path of the TAO: Believing in your own shit! Wisdom is not knowledge. Everyone can learn stuff, but wisdom is your life’s experience and needs no justification. People can doubt your opinions or mistake your experiences for mere opinions, but wisdom is being 100% sure about the difference between an opinion and a life experience. Wisdom doesn’t need to exaggerate and automatically shows the right amount of reaction to any action, because it´s not defensive and reactive in nature.

10. Be steady like a rock. Be flexible like water.

“Without going outside, you may know the whole world. Without looking through the window, you may see the ways of heaven. The farther you go the less you know. Thus the sage knows without traveling; he sees without looking; he works without doing.” – Lao Tse (Chapter 47, Tao Te Ching)

Everything you need is here on STEEM. You don’t have to go elsewhere.
You can communicate, have fun, express yourself and even earning money by doing so. Why do you keep looking?
You have already found the TAO - it´s right before your nose. You are sitting on pure gold, and yet you are looking for the pot of gold in all other places.
Always remember: The best way to keep your search going, is to look at places where the thing you are looking for is not!
It´s like looking for your glasses, while they are sitting on your nose!
This way, be steady like a rock.
But also be flexible like water, when it´s time to adjust, learn, advance and go with the flow of things. Trust your intuition, it will guide you to your next idea you want to post about.
Listen to what people need from you and chances are, you can provide them with exactly this value. There is a reason they are asking you! People know intuitively what you can provide - so trust them as your signposts.

Well, my friends, there is so much to say about the TAO of STEEM and there even may be a part 3 in the future, if I listen to you and what is needed.

As stated in Part 1, I want to encourage Resteems more.
The way I want to do this is to reward them with a higher upvote.
So if you liked this article and resteemed it, please let me know in the comments and I will make sure, you will receive a higher upvote from me.
Thank you!

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I strolled from quote to quote and fell in love with every one of it. Your writing in between spiced them up & made the connection to your & my current events and time. Thank you. For keeping the quotes and what you offered, I resteemed this article so I always will have easy access to a quote.

Thank you! I´m honored to be able to serve this way! ❤️

Thanks for resteeming :) just found another jem.

Hey mate, as I said after part 1, this topic really resonated with me so thank you for putting the time into writing it.

I've really tried to be more authentic and less driven by negligible curation rewards. I feel like I'm really contributing to the community so feel better in myself, and my account is actually growing as a result. Win/win!

I've resteemed part 2 as well for you. Looking forward to part 3!

I resteemed the Tao of Steem Part 1. You inspired me to write a poem to go with my photo. I never write poetry.

by karenps

That´s wonderful! Would you like to share your poem with us?

Definitely resteeming! Great advice and fits well within the Tao of life!

Following you, as I am just beginning my journey along the Tao.

Excellent choice of quotes. I especially liked last one - I should write it down, can be useful next time when somebody will accuse me of spending too much time in my room (it happened to me some time ago).
About being yourself and being ordinary...I believe these are two different things. Does that thing we call ,,ordinary human being'' even exists anyway? How does it look like? What's it's name? How old is it?
Maybe it is somewhere there, but I'm sure that I have nothing to do with it. If that defies teachings of TAO...well, it only one rule from ten - I can live with that.

One of my former "spiritual teacher" Stephen Wolisnky, who is a direct disciple of Nisargadatta Maharaj, was once asked how do you realize, when you are nesting (=being attached) in a spiritual state (also often called "spiritual trance") and he answered: Simple, when you feel special in any way.
So feeling beyond, transcended or "on a bigger mission" are all spiritual states/trances. This is what "being ordinary" really means to me. Being whatever you are, without any need to know what that is - and yes, even calling it ordinary is to be dropped, when used in a way to feel special.(as in: I´m special in my ordinariness)
Great questions! Thank you for bringing this up and your kind words, that I really appreciate! ❤️

This is lovely, and I enjoyed part 1, too, which helped me to begin to see Steemit differently and also be differently in it.

Everything can be used, as a step to climb, or a tool to refine us, and if we bring our All to this platform, we see changes...

Bless you, for this reminder; everything is sacred, we walk on holy grounds 🙏🏼

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Thank you so much for your beautiful feedback! ❤️

Everything you need is here on STEEM. You don’t have to go elsewhere.
You can communicate, have fun, express yourself and even earning money by doing so. Why do you keep looking?
You have already found the TAO - it´s right before your nose. You are sitting on pure gold, and yet you are looking for the pot of gold in all other places.

You got a 8.66% upvote from @upmewhale courtesy of @atmosblack!

You got a 2.36% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @atmosblack!

Want to promote your posts too? Check out the Steem Bot Tracker website for more info. If you would like to support the development of @postpromoter and the bot tracker please vote for @yabapmatt for witness!

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