People often say:

Don't try too hard, because the world flows according to its natural order. This saying is quite strange, isn't it?

It seems to put your mind at ease when you hear it, yet if you just sit still, you feel like you are falling behind somewhere.

It is just like sitting by a river watching the water flow; you feel peaceful, but once the sun sets, you suddenly realize, ‘I haven’t gone anywhere today.’

The word ‘natural order’ does not mean to just sit still

and can be said to be like a river.

A river appears to always be in the same place, but in fact, it has never stopped for even a single moment.

The water of yesterday and the water of today are completely different waters.

Yet, the river does not hurry.

When it meets a mountain, it winds around it; when it meets a rock, it divides and flows; and when it meets a precipice, it becomes a waterfall and plunges.

It does not stop, nor does it overexert itself. It simply flows.

The reason people become weary is not because they are slow, but because their minds race ahead.

It is because they try to verify the harvest of autumn in the spring before it has even arrived,

and dig up the ground just three days after sowing the seeds to check if sprouts have emerged.

Sprouts grow in quiet places, but impatience keeps turning over the soil.

Ultimately, what ruins things is not speed, but the impatient hand.

Looking at the world, there are people who succeeded quickly, but there are no people who succeeded because they were impatient. They were not hasty people, but fast people. These two are completely different stories. An impatient person is someone who seeks results quickly, while a fast person is someone who starts preparing early. An impatient person tries to bring the tomorrow that has not yet arrived into today, while a fast person begins living today while others are still in yesterday. They live within the same time, yet they live as if they are in a different season. It is easy to understand if you think of a farmer. A person who sows seeds in the spring has no reason to be busy in the autumn. This is because they have already done all their work. However, a person who played in the spring ends up looking only at the sky when autumn comes. This is not because they do not believe in the natural order, but because they moved later than the natural order. The natural order of things is not on the side of those who wait, but on the side of those who are prepared. Therefore, the necessary attitude is not grandiose. Keep your mind relaxed, and simply move your feet half a step faster. If your mind is busy, you cannot go far, and if your feet are slow, you will not arrive anywhere. Let your mind drift like a cloud, and just keep your feet slightly ahead of the clock. Then, strangely enough, life will find you ahead of others without you having to run. There is a saying that life is a marathon, but in fact, what is more similar is a wave. Those who ride the waves well do not frantically flap their arms. Instead, they are already on the board before the wave comes. And when the wave comes, they appear to be doing nothing, yet they are moving the farthest.

Life is the same. It is not the person who jumps when the waves come, but

the person who rides the waves before they arrive who goes far.

Ultimately, there is only one thing we must do.

Not jumping into the water to catch the result, but reading the flow of the water. And quietly dipping the oar into the water before the current comes.

Then the water will push us, and we will move forward effortlessly.

The world certainly flows according to the natural order.

However, the true meaning of that statement may not be to do nothing, but to not go against the flow, but to prepare half a step ahead of it.

Let your mind flow leisurely like a river in the late afternoon, and start your footsteps just a little earlier than others, like the first train of dawn.

Perhaps that is the most realistic way to avoid falling behind in this complex world without becoming impatient.