In China as elsewhere it was common for rulers and ruled to dream about becoming rich by accumulating wealth. The Tao Te Ching advises us repeatedly that this is a misguided dream. That is the hidden virtue. As a voluntary mother raises a child not for material gain, but because the experience itself is meaningful, a wise person does not live and work in order to accumulate possessions, but will concentrate on the process of living. Being is more important than having.
Life is postponed until some later date.
An enlightened person, by contrast, is a person who lives in the present. When the world loses the Tao, Cavalry ravages the countryside. Nothing is worse than the desire to possess. Therefore contentment with contentment will be contentment. The recommendation to abstain from competition parallels the one to abstain from combative arguments.