I am always amazed at the Chinese language; it’s not just a language, its art and culture speaking together. It fascinates me how the characters are pictures of reality, telling a story in their creation, stroke by stroke. I am not in any way a Chinese scholar, so bear with me as I attempt to provide a glimpse into the beauty of meaning of the Chinese character.
The Chinese character 懒 (lǎn) means lazy, and as many Chinese characters, it is composed of other characters. In the case of 懒 (lǎn), it is created using:
心 (xīn) or “heart”,
保 (bǎo) or “to defend, to protect, to keep, to guarantee, to ensure”, and
负 (fù) or “to bear to carry (on one’s back) to turn one’s back on to be defeated, negative.”
So it seems to me that if we are lazy, 懒 (lǎn), it is a matter of our heart being captive to being defeated. Typically we have to live with our choices, and often we can choose to succeed, or not. Usually, how much effort we put in affects our chances of success. 懒 (lǎn) reminds us that laziness is a matter of the heart, and it is our choice to face it and overcome it.
Another Chinese character is 赢 (yíng) meaning to win
The Chinese character 赢 (yíng) meaning to win is more complicated and consists of five other characters; these are:
亡 (wáng) death
口(kǒu) mouth
月(yuè) moon/month
贝 (bèi) money
凡 (fán) ordinary/commonplace
To me, 亡 (wáng), or death, reminds me that to win, we need to sacrifice. Overcoming is a journey that will cost us. Some of the costs are in 月(yuè), or moon/month, that tells us that this takes time, and 贝 (bèi), or money, means a commitment of resources. Foundational to winning is口(kǒu),or mouth, which reminds us that we are not intended to do this alone, as 口(kǒu) talks of communication. Notice that 口(kǒu) is at the center, or the heart, of the character, making it central to success. Finally, 凡 (fán) meaning ordinary/commonplace reminds us that this is not a supernatural thing, but the ordinary, in other words, all of us can succeed.
So the question is, are you willing to free your heart from what has captured it and to sacrifice and work for what matters, before it is too late. As a father whose youngest daughter will head off to university in a years time, this is a poignant thought...
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