My reaction to the "Tao of Pooh"

My first reaction when I heard that the “Tao of Pooh” was our next book was that of excitement.  I have heard of this book before but I did not know what the concept was or what the book was about. I just wanted to read it because it said Pooh in it. As I was reading, I found that this book was an easy read. The more I began to read, the more I just wanted to finish the book. This book was not only fun to read but it taught me a lot about my life. It taught me that I am always trying to plan things instead of just letting life flow. I am always trying to plan things that I do not allow myself to just sit back and enjoy my life.  A quote about how I should be is, “" ... but, no matter how he may seem to others, especially to those fooled by appearances, Pooh, the Uncarved Block, is able to accomplish what he does because he is simpleminded." (12) This quote really showed me that if I just go with the flow or just relax that I can still get things done.

I can just try to calm my thoughts and still accomplish what I need to do. I stress myself out a lot because I am the planner. I try to do everything in a certain time and be on a schedule. Most of the time the time and schedule do not work at all. A lot of my friends tell me that I am so uptight and that I do not have fun so as I was reading I found another quote of how I should just enjoy my life. The quote says, “" From the state of the Uncarved Block comes the ability to enjoy the simple and the quiet, the natural and the plain. Along with that comes the ability to do things spontaneously and have them work, odd as that may appear to others at times. As Piglet put it in Winnie-the-Pooh, "Pooh hasn't much Brain, but he never comes to any harm. He does silly things and they turn out right." (21) This quote helped me because it taught me that I do have things to do and that need to be accomplished but with that I need to learn how to have down time to.

I believe that Taoism would be a great solution for Americans. I say this because it would allow the average American to just sit back and enjoy life more. We are so caught up in doing this, accomplishing that, that we do not have time to breathe and enjoy what has been placed in front of us. I am going to search Taoism a little more and try to live by it as well. The critique about Americans being Busy Backsons is true as well. We are always on the move that we do not have time for ourselves. I am learning that myself and I am truly going to change that. I really enjoyed this book.