Over some cabbage roll and peach juice, I asked a sage, “Taoism teaches me to accept everyone and cast aside my purist ways. Yet how can I do this if it’s in my nature to refuse to accept people’s flaws? I must accept myself as I accept others”.
He told me, “If you are happy with yourself and the decisions you make, then there is nothing to worry about”.
Then he took my bowl, washed it, and we played Warcraft III for eleven straight hours.
Let me take a shot.
Balance exists only when there’re opposing forces.
Only when one reaches the balance will one truly feel happy with oneself. Only when one truly feels happy with oneself will one be able to enjoy the ways of others.
No ??
That reminds me of a logically quandry. If Goethe is right and you see the world not as it is, but as you are, then would the corollary mean that self-image must be correct. (Poor logic I know, but amusing)
@Uncle Joe — I agree with your explanation in most cases, but it doesn’t quite apply to mine. Before I found the Way, I tried to change my expectation of perfection from other people — which came from the same expectation of myself — as I believed it was getting in the way of my life. It’s only recently I’ve realized that I’m a perfectionist by nature, and it’s very difficult for me to change this. So instead of going against it, I should embrace it, as is part of the Way. However, I used to believe that if I accept this “flaw” in myself, I should accept the flaws in other people as well. Perhaps not so much a dilemma as an effort to not be hypocritical — a logical quandary, as Pearl has said.
My sage-friend has taught me that it doesn’t matter either way, as long as I’m happy with my decisions. And I am. I know that I’m better off alone than with someone I don’t like, better off without a mother than with a mother who hurts me. Perhaps it can be said that even without this balance of which you speak, I’m content, which is what contradicts one of the fundamental points of your explanation.
Your comment has made me reflect some more, causing me to realize that I do accept the flaws of others, but only the few whom I love, such as my friends. Only recently (in the last year or two) have I begun to love myself, and perhaps this is why I have started accepting my own flaws. There’s enough to talk about here for a whole other entry.
@Pearl — That’s an interesting idea. I think of absolute truth compared to a relative truth, and the fact that they’re incomparable. Of course, as a Taoist, I don’t believe that biased and limited human minds are made to comprehend such quandaries. 
warcraft III ?
WoW is way more entertaining….
Then he took my bowl, washed it, and we played Warcraft III for eleven straight hours. man im switching to tao to play wow im sick of playing tuck and ticke with my catholic priest and wow dont hurt my bum
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