Go out to see the sky, go in to see the color.

No matter what people do, they want to be in a good time, an interesting place and live in harmony with others.

The so-called "obeying Shi Tian" means that everything advocated by Laozi should be done according to objective laws, and nothing should be done according to one's own will. As the saying goes, go out to see the sky, go in to see the color. Going out to watch the sky is to observe and grasp the weather changes and arrange your own actions according to the weather change trend, otherwise you may get caught in the rain, be exposed to the sun and be shivering by the cold wind. Even against the farming season, it will cause great losses.

Now people are used to listening to the weather forecast and arranging their own actions according to the weather forecast of the meteorological station. But in the past, there was not only no TV, but also no weather forecast. How do people predict weather changes? Mainly depends on experience. Farmers, in particular, know a lot of agricultural proverbs, and they will predict the weather changes in the next day or two or even a long time according to these proverbs. In fact, agricultural proverbs are the summary of farmers' experience in weather changes and agricultural activities for thousands of years.

Sometimes, people don't have to rely on agricultural proverbs to predict the weather, or even their own unique experience. There is a man named Zhou Puqing not far from my hometown. His efficacy in observing the sky has almost become a legend. It's sunny, but he said it would rain heavily in the afternoon, and everyone thought he was talking nonsense. As a result, it really rained suddenly in the afternoon. Only he brought an umbrella and everyone else got wet. Sometimes in the morning, the clouds are rolling and everyone is ready to stop work. Only Zhou Puqing pushed a dirt bike out of the house, saying that he was going to collect firewood in the inner mountain. Just when everyone was worried about him, it was a sunrise and everyone regretted it. Zhou Puqing's story of observing the sky spread farther and farther, and gradually someone cracked the secret. People also said in a teasing tone that Zhou Puqing's accurate view of the sky was entirely due to his rotten cotton-padded jacket. It is said that his cotton-padded jacket was worn when he left the Japanese army. I haven't washed for decades and I'm sweating like a pig. Cotton is saturated with salt. So as long as his cotton-padded jacket comes back, he knows it will rain. And if his cotton-padded jacket is dry, even if it rains heavily, it means it will clear up. Although everyone is teasing when telling Zhou Puqing's story, everyone admits that it is actually very reasonable.

Learning to look at the sky is a necessary skill in sunny days, but getting along with people requires the second half sentence: look at the color in the door. The so-called color through the door is actually looking at the face through the door. In other words, the attitude towards the host should be judged by observing words and deeds, whether the host really welcomes guests to visit, and whether he can sit for a long time or should find an excuse to leave quickly. China is a country of etiquette, and people all know that people should treat others with courtesy. There is a famous saying in The Analects that "it's a pleasure to have friends coming from afar"? Not only catchy, but also known to almost all women and children. So as long as guests come in, the host will be very enthusiastic. However, it is inevitable to encounter the embarrassment that the host happens to have something inconvenient to receive guests. At this time, although the host is still very enthusiastic on the surface, it may not be the case in his heart. A neighbor in my hometown once left a joke. He repeatedly said to the guests who got up and left, "Don't go, don't go, the umbrella is in the corner." I haven't verified the truth of this joke. Anyway, on the surface, it seems that the guests want to stay, but in fact they want the guests to leave quickly, which is often the case. If you can't judge your master's true thoughts by observing his words and deeds, it will make people feel very annoyed. In fact, by extension, it is also true on other occasions. For example, when chatting, we should observe whether others are interested in the topic we are talking about. If others are listening with relish, we might as well say a few more words. And if we find that other people seem to have no interest in our topic, then we should stop or change the subject quickly. In fact, making a report on the podium is the same principle as giving a lecture on the podium.

Therefore, going out to see the sky and going in to see the color are the basic skills of being a man. It's just that it's not easy to do it well.