Tattoo check

[Des09]

My friend is interested in the tattoo “take things as they come” 

Every where we look it says something different please help! 

[somethingfunny]

Don't do it?

 

If you insist on doing it maybe you could post what you've found, someone can tell you what it means and you can see if that agrees with what you're after.  After all, "take things as they come" could mean different things to different people. And the thing with the Chinese language is never mind.

[amytheorangutan]

My first advice is the same as @somethingfunny don't do it if you don't understand the language as language doesn't just translate exactly from one to another, the main component is culture. My second best advice is to find a tattoo artist who specialises in Chinese tattoo, if you find a good one they might even be able to help you with a good idiom or quote from classic texts that would be classy with similar meaning instead of a direct translation that will sound awkward to people who know Chinese. 

 

If both of those advice don't apply then I just looked up a couple of idioms that might be useful:

 

随遇而安 - meaning is to be at ease with whatever comes your way - I think this one is from 孟子 Mencius 

顺其自然 - to follow the natural course of things - this one came from a text called 灵城精义 which I don't even know what that is but it's a text from the 5 dynasties period. 

 

Bonus advice if your friend decides to go ahead, make sure to find a tattoo artist who can actually write Chinese otherwise it would look awful as they're not supposed to be drawn but written and the final product will look noticeable if the tattoo artist drew it. Good luck! Maybe some other people here can provide better help.