“The superior man is given to self-adjustment, and he is free from anxiety and fear.” Confucianism, 131:9.4 (1453.2)
True spiritual maturity is not about avoiding life’s challenges but about meeting them with inner adaptability. The “superior man” is one who recognizes that change is inevitable and that resisting it only breeds frustration. Self-adjustment is not weakness—it is the conscious choice to align one’s heart, mind, and actions with higher truths, even when circumstances shift unexpectedly.
Freedom from anxiety and fear comes when we accept that the only thing we truly control is our own response. By choosing to adapt rather than react, we step out of the prison of worry and into the peace of trust. This is not passive surrender; it is active alignment with divine guidance. Life may present storms, but a soul anchored in faith bends without breaking.
To live without fear is not to live without awareness of danger—it is to rest in the assurance that we are never alone. In self-adjustment, we learn that God’s plan is not always to change our environment, but to transform us so we can thrive within it. This is the path to true spiritual freedom.
