We are often told to “be like a rock”. Be strong. Be firm. Be unyielding.
But what if I told you this might be the wrong approach?
Eastern philosophies tell us to be like water instead. Lao Tzu tells us that even though “nothing is more soft and yielding than water”, there is nothing better to overcome the strong and the stiff. Water is constantly moving, constantly nimble, constantly persistent. It is this nature which gives water the power to erode rocks, and to carve out rivers over time.
I often struggle to reconcile these two seemingly conflicting points of view.