“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.”
– Lao Tzu
So much of our modern culture is focused on pushing ahead, sprinting for the line, applying ourselves at 110%. ‘Going hard or going home’ has become a rallying call for these times.
The language aggressive, the message uncompromisingly rigid. The inference – go full speed ahead or don’t bother.
So where is this approach getting us?
Are we ‘winning our days’?
Or instead, are we feeling rundown, let down and dispirited? Perhaps even a little battle weary?
Life is not all about charging full throttle in a direction. That approach will cost us if we try to keep it up for anything but short, focused bursts.
Life will throw all sorts of challenges our way. How we adapt to them will shape us. It will decide the kind of life we end up living.
Will we buckle and surrender? Will we get beaten down? Will we stop trying after hitting a setback?
In an attempt to control, many of us try to force outcomes that are not ours to force. We try to rally against life.
There is no out-muscling life. We may have temporary ‘wins’ but they will be temporary. Life will always hold the trump cards.
Learning to Soften and Flow
Instead of trying to fight life, perhaps a better approach is to try to be adaptable to it. Being flexible with how we deal with the challenges that will come our way. Perhaps we could be less attached to outcomes. Maybe we could take things less personally. Seeking a path of non-attachment.
There will be times to soften. There will also be times to stand firm and resolute.
There will be times to sprint for the line, and times to reset, reflect and rest up.
We can live our lives in an ever evolving, contrasting pattern. We can commit to flow, as life will surely flow.
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