Rivers (Bruce Lee's Wisdom)

Rivers (Bruce Lee’s wisdom)

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from rivers. They are neutral, they flow. Rivers stream in one direction. A river is not forceful, it does not impose its will on the fish and other lifeforms in its ecosystem. A river is just nature. It is an expression of the Universe. It is not envious of the ocean for having more depth, other lifeforms and water. It is just content with just being the river. I liken rivers to Zen & Taoism. Taoism teaches the action of non-doing. Taoism teaches the importance of not forcing anything. It teaches to yield and be soft. It teaches how to be at peace with yourself. It teaches self-knowledge, it teaches how to be adaptable. This is important because as human beings, we have the proclivity to control and impose ourselves on things outside of ourselves. This is counterproductive and makes people defensive. The action of wanting to control people makes them contemptuous. It’s better to just flow. It’s better to just steer.

Bruce Lee also had a thing about water.

He states; “Don’t get set into one form, adapt and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless like water. Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

Never fight reality, never wish things were better, never wallow or feel sorry for yourself, don’t waste time – improvise, adapt and overcome! Be like water my friend.