I Ching · Hexagram 16 Enthusiasm
Hexagram 16 line 3: Enthusiasm, yin in the third place

I Ching 16.3
Enthusiasm that looks upward brings regret. Hesitation brings regret.
Waiting for someone above you to supply the energy and the direction, and drifting while you wait. The line counts both the dependence and the delay as errors. Decide for yourself.
Advice. Do not wait for others to inspire you; find your own timing.
What changes when line 3 moves
Line 3 of Hexagram 16 is yin, a broken line. When it is cast as old yin (a 6) it flips, and the hexagram becomes Hexagram 62, Small Excess: The bird that should not fly too high: a time for small things, done with extra care, and for staying low.
Read together, the reading moves from Enthusiasm toward Small Excess. Thunder rising from the earth: energy that moves people when it moves with the grain of things. Mountain below, thunder above: thunder on the mountain, louder than in the sky and smaller in reach. Four yielding lines outweigh two strong ones. The primary hexagram describes the situation; the changing line is the point of movement in it; the resulting hexagram is where that movement leads. Both hexagrams belong to the reading, and the changing line is the hinge between them.
Line 3 in context
- Love & relationships
- Do not wait for others to inspire you; find your own timing. In love and relationships, Hexagram 16 reads: Real energy and delight between you, and the pull to carry each other along. Enjoy it and keep it honest. The risk named is complacency: enthusiasm that stops noticing the other person and becomes a mood.
- Career
- Do not wait for others to inspire you; find your own timing. In career, Hexagram 16 reads: Momentum. People are ready to follow and the moment favours action. Organise, appoint helpers, and move while the energy is high. Do not let the mood substitute for the plan.
- Money
- Do not wait for others to inspire you; find your own timing. In money, Hexagram 16 reads: Enthusiasm is where money is lost as often as made. The reading supports action that follows a real trend, and warns sharply against being carried away by excitement into commitments you have not examined.
- A decision
- Do not wait for others to inspire you; find your own timing. In decisions, Hexagram 16 reads: Act with the momentum, provided the direction is sound. Ask whether you are moving with the grain of the situation or merely with the feeling. If the former, go.
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The topic is pre-selected. The hexagram is not: the coins decide it.
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