November 5, 2025
Sometimes the best way to win is to stop trying so hard to win. That’s the strange little paradox we explore in today’s Thought of the Day and Question of the Day, one from Alan Watts about losing yourself to find yourself, and one about finishing what matters before winter locks the door.
Thought of the Day:
“Whosoever would save his soul shall lose it.” — Alan Watts
Alan Watts had a way of saying things that make you squint at your own reflection. This line, borrowed from scripture and filtered through Watts’ Zen philosophy, isn’t about doom or damnation, it’s about identity.
When you’re so focused on preserving your “self”, your reputation, your image, your control, you start building walls so high that even you can’t breathe inside them. The more you try to “save” yourself, the less room you leave for growth, for surprise, for the messy kind of living that gives life its texture.
I think about this every time I catch myself trying to hold things together, juggling work, family, projects, and my own expectations like I’m auditioning for a circus I didn’t sign up for. The moments I feel most alive are never the ones where I’ve got everything under control. They’re the ones where I’ve let go, of perfection, of fear, of what I thought was supposed to happen.
Maybe losing yourself isn’t about disappearing. Maybe it’s about surrendering to what’s actually in front of you.
For more reflections on identity and control, you might enjoy this post on becoming a monster or this one about the mastermind of the monster.
Question of the Day:
What do you want to finish before the first real snow arrives?
This one feels practical on the surface but sneaky underneath. Sure, you might be thinking about leaf-blowing the yard or fixing that loose shutter. But the deeper question is: What unfinished thing keeps tugging at you before the season changes?
Winter has a way of pressing pause on life, the cold slows everything down, the nights stretch longer, and you start to take stock. So what’s that project, that relationship, that promise to yourself that you’d like to complete before everything gets quiet?
For me, it’s about wrapping up ideas that have been floating half-finished in my mind, stories, posts, maybe even a few half-built shortcuts or side projects that deserve a proper ending before the year buries them in snow.
But there’s also something spiritual about the timing. The first snow feels like a reset button. Whatever you don’t finish before it arrives might not belong to this season of your life anymore.
So, ask yourself: What’s worth crossing the finish line, and what’s okay to let melt away?
Join the Conversation
What are you trying to finish before the snow falls?
Leave a comment below, or better yet, join the Low Two Pair Daily Email for new questions and thoughts that make you pause, laugh, and think every day.
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