This quote, “chop wood, carry water” comes from Buddhist philosophy I believe, but people aren’t sure who originally said this quote so I can’t attribute it to anyone. Now that were past that I would like to tell you what this statement means to me.
Why
I originally heard this statement from a podcast or audiobook talking about stoic philosophy and at first I thought it was dumb it just sounded so simple. “Chop wood, carry water” What good is that statement? But I soon found myself pondering it. It’s so simple yet so profound at the same time. It became important to me and I’m not even sure why.
A Mantra with many meanings
To me this quote can mean many different things depending on the situation. “chop wood, carry water” can mean:
- Work is necessary and always present
- This is life, don’t complain
- When in doubt do what you know
- When things get rough put your head down and keep pushing forward
- Be present
- Even the menial tasks in life are important and can be enjoyed
- Do what you were meant to do
- And a reminder to stay humble
And at the end of the day even with the depths of despair creeping in, a mile long lists of things to do, you can always say to yourself “C’est la vie” and
Chop wood, carry water
Simple yet powerful
It’s a simple yet powerful mantra to tell yourself when you find yourself getting angry about menial chores or overwhelmed with life. A constant reminder that worrying, fretting, or complaining about something never helps. What works is taking action. “Chop wood, carry water” and soon you will find yourself where you want to be in life and you will be able to enjoy every single moment.
This post is a little different from the challenges and reviews I normally post, but it’s what I wanted to talk about currently. This quote keeps coming up for me and so I wanted to go over it. Hopefully you enjoyed reading and like the quote. I am aware that the meanings of this quote are subjective so maybe none of you get it or like it and that’s perfectly fine to me.
I’m just gonna continue to chop wood and carry water either way.
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If you want to see the last quote I went over check it out here.
Life is tough, but you’re tougher