患得患失
Musings, Writings
The Chinese saying of 患得患失 means upon gaining, one also fears losing, thus rendering one unable to enjoy one has.
I think it is a powerful message for everyone of us, especially to myself and it rings true for the philosopher, the designer and the lover. If you’re unable to read Chinese, the gist of the article can be extracted from this story.
A man had several pieces of pottery that he wanted to sell at the bazaar. So he loaded them onto cart and began to make his way down. On his way, the bumpy roads caused a few pieces of pottery to fall off the cart and smash into pieces, but the man continued onward to the bazaar without so much of a glance at the broken pottery. Alarmed, passersby tell him about his loss. To that the man calmly replied, “Why look back on the smashed pottery? It is already broken beyond repair!” His point was, rather than focus on the irreversible past, why not focus on the salvageable future and go towards it.
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