"Wisdom consists in not being attached to the identity
or myth of who you (think) you are so much you lose yourself in either
excess or deprivation. So as the circumstances of your life swing from
one extreme to the other, you merely sit at the centre and observe,
knowing that yang inevitably turns to yin - fullness inevitably turns into
emptiness once it reaches its zenith -so you sit there and watch amused
as your fortunes rise and fall and rise again.

As you reach the zenith of the extreme of either excess or deficit,
you'll witness transformation and it's in this transformation that you
witness first hand your Tao (the Great Way) working in your affairs -
therein lies the nub of wisdom.

The wiser and more Tao-attuned you become, the more inclined you are to
contain your energy and remain in the centre, whether in the throes of
excess or of poverty, realizing that both extremes are simply effects
of the external world and in themselves mean nothing. So you carry your
wisdom with you no matter the external circumstances.

You have to go with it while it's happening to gain full value from
being alive and if where it's taking you is into excess, you go there,
observing from the centre all the while, knowing that after excess comes
decrease, so not attaching to the fruits, always to the tree."