The Yin and Yang Perspective

I have given the concept of Yin and Yang thought throughout my lifetime. A little mediation on the idea of seemingly opposite or contrary forces which are interconnected and interdependent within our world has been fairly though provoking. Light and dark, fire and water, hot and cold, male and female, life and death as well as possibly “new” and “used.”

To fully discover this Yin and Yang perspective, it can be told in a parable, the parable of the Boy and the GMC Truck. One day there was a boy who was blessed with the use of a “Used” GMC truck. The truck would take him to school and other places of his desire, provided he kept the fuel tank full. This GMC truck had a model name, that of Sierra. It was a beautiful name, one that conjured thoughts of the majestic towering peaks of the Sierra Nevada range of mountain, a range with the tallest peak in the contiguous United States. However, this boy had a nemesis at school named Siera. The relationship was such that the name Sierra on the truck needed to be vanquished. He and a friend put together a plan to send the name Sierra to outer darkness to never be seen again.

A few years after the “Sierra” had been vanquished, a magical thing had happened. The boy had grown up to be a young man that worked hard and had learned many things. His perspective on life seemed to have changed. He had a greater desire to work hard. He wanted to do the right thing. His life had been blessed because of the choices that he had made. He now had the ability to purchase his own vehicle. The choice he made was to purchase a new GMC Sierra. His wise father offered to remove the Sierra name for him in the same manner in which the young boy had removed the Sierra from his truck. This new Sierra was much brighter and shinny. Oh, how a dull screwdriver being jammed under the shinny name would have worked just as well on the new Sierra as it did on the old Sierra.

The young man felt bad for taking part in vanquishing the Sierra off the old truck and was not really enthused about having the new Sierra vanquished off the new truck. The father and son talked about how the son had grown up and become more responsible. How, because the son had worked hard, he was given opportunities. How he once was a “slightly disrespectful boy that would take a screwdriver to the tailgate of dads pickup truck to remove its name, which was similar to his nemeses” to a young man that “shows respect for his father, is proud to be an Eagle Scout like his dad, understands that a good work ethic is important in life and is generally a delightful son.”

So as the Parable of the Boy and the GMC Truck goes, the Yin and Yang of life continues. Yin and Yang are actually complementary forces, not opposing forces, interacting to form a whole greater than either part. The young boy caught between doing the right thing and doing the thing that will make him happy. As the young boy grows and learns to balance the two sides, he becomes stronger, because of his experiences. The interaction of those two forces causes growth. So weather it is an old GMC Sierra sans the Sierra or the new GMC Sierra with the Sierra, there is a young man that now has a greater perspective on life. I do have to say, a perspective that does not want dad prying off the Sierra on the new truck with a screwdriver. At least the young man is a happy one. And so is the truck, it has its name . . .

But that bumper looks like it needs an adult bumper sticker . . .