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As for holding to fullness,
Far better were it to stop in time!Keep on beating and sharpening a sword,
And the edge cannot be preserved for long.Fill your house with gold and jade,
And it can no longer be guarded.Set store by your riches and honour,
And you will only reap a crop of calamities.Here is the Way of Heaven:
When you have done your work, retire!
This is very practical advice for living life in the material world. We are spiritual beings having an earthly experience, and we must work and do certain things to take care of ourselves in this life. But what Lao Tzu is saying here is that we should not let our earthly desires dominate our lives. We all must work, and we all need a certain amount of wealth in order to survive, but the key to happiness and the “Way to Heaven” is to be content with just enough, and not to keep constantly striving for more. When we reach fullness, it is time to stop and rest. When a bird has finished building a nest, it does not keep building other ones. Likewise, when the bird has eaten enough, it stops eating. If it were to continue eating after it was full, it would no longer be able to fly.
We can spend our lives chasing after things that mean nothing in the end, but will that bring us happiness? I personally do not think so. I encourage you to pause, rest, and reflect on what is really important in your life. I suspect that it will not be material gains.
Stuff Jeff Reads 
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