Captain Michael: We are taught very early that strength means standing firm.
Hold your ground.
Don’t bend.
Don’t give an inch.
There
We are taught very early that strength means standing firm.
Hold your ground.
Don’t bend.
Don’t give an inch.
There are certainly times when that is exactly what strength requires.
But Taoism offers a different picture.
Lao Tzu wrote:
“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.”
Water yields.
Put your hand into a river and it moves around you.
There is no fight.
No argument.
No need to prove which one of you is stronger.
Remove your hand and the river continues on its way.
I think we sometimes confuse yielding with losing.
We hold onto positions long after they matter.
We defend decisions because changing them might look like weakness.
We remain rigid because we have invested too much of ourselves in being right.
A sailor cannot afford much of that.
When a squall comes through, you shorten sail.
When the wind changes, you change with it.
When the sea tells you the course you chose this morning is no longer the course you should be sailing this afternoon, stubbornness is not strength.
It is just bad seamanship.
There is a kind of strength that comes from standing firm.
But there is another kind that comes from knowing when to bend.
The rigid thing eventually breaks.
The yielding thing remains.
Maybe the question this Monday morning isn’t:
What am I willing to fight for?
Maybe it is:
What am I strong enough to stop fighting?
#Taoism, #LaoTzu, #TheWatercourseWay, #Yielding, #Wisdom, #SailingLife, #LifeAfloat, #LiveaboardLife, #Philosophy, #TheWay, #CaptainMichael
Captain Michael: We are taught very early that strength means standing firm. Hold your ground. Don’t bend. Don’t give an inch. There are
We are taught very early that strength means standing firm. Hold your ground. Don’t bend. Don’t give an inch. There are certainly times when that is exactly what strength requires. But Taoism offers a different picture. Lao Tzu wrote: “Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.” Water yields. Put your hand into a river and it moves around you. There is no fight. No argument. No need to prove which one of you is stronger. Remove your hand and the river continues on its way. I think we sometimes confuse yielding with losing. We hold onto positions long after they matter. We defend decisions because changing them might look like weakness. We remain rigid because we have invested too much of ourselves in being right. A sailor cannot afford much of that. When a squall comes through, you shorten sail. When the wind changes, you change with it. When the sea tells you the course you chose this morning is no longer the course you should be sailing this afternoon, stubbornness is not strength. It is just bad seamanship. There is a kind of strength that comes from standing firm. But there is another kind that comes from knowing when to bend. The rigid thing eventually breaks. The yielding thing remains. Maybe the question this Monday morning isn’t: What am I willing to fight for? Maybe it is: What am I strong enough to stop fighting? #Taoism, #LaoTzu, #TheWatercourseWay, #Yielding, #Wisdom, #SailingLife, #LifeAfloat, #LiveaboardLife, #Philosophy, #TheWay, #CaptainMichael
We are taught very early that strength means standing firm. Hold your ground. Don’t bend. Don’t give an inch. There are certainly times when that is exactly what strength requires. But Taoism offers a different picture. Lao Tzu wrote: “Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.” Water yields. Put your hand into a river and it moves around you. There is no fight. No argument. No need to prove which one of you is stronger. Remove your hand and the river continues on its way. I think we sometimes confuse yielding with losing. We hold onto positions long after they matter. We defend decisions because changing them might look like weakness. We remain rigid because we have invested too much of ourselves in being right. A sailor cannot afford much of that. When a squall comes through, you shorten sail. When the wind changes, you change with it. When the sea tells you the course you chose this morning is no longer the course you should be sailing this afternoon, stubbornness is not strength. It is just bad seamanship. There is a kind of strength that comes from standing firm. But there is another kind that comes from knowing when to bend. The rigid thing eventually breaks. The yielding thing remains. Maybe the question this Monday morning isn’t: What am I willing to fight for? Maybe it is: What am I strong enough to stop fighting? #Taoism, #LaoTzu, #TheWatercourseWay, #Yielding, #Wisdom, #SailingLife, #LifeAfloat, #LiveaboardLife, #Philosophy, #TheWay, #CaptainMichael
