19th November 2010
Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life. The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.
~ Lao-tzu
I was viewing a clipping from Bruce Lee wherein he says `be like water, my friend, be like a water. If you pour water into a cup, it takes the shape of the cup. If you pour water to some other container, it takes the shape of that container!'.
What applies to water also applies to the air. The air is very flexible. Just because water and air are flexible, does it mean that they are not strong? You know what will happen if the water and air become furious. We cannot stand it!
We have to be flexible in our approach to people's issue while at the same time strong in our goals and ambitions in life. We should follow the golden principle of give and take. Give and take does not mean `you give and I take'! When dealing with others, we have to be appreciative of the just and fair expectations of others.
You take any relationship. Be it between parents and children, customer and supplier, doctor and patient or among friends. When someone asks us to do something, how do we project ourselves? The policy of `I, me, myself' may not build happy and healthy relationship in the long run.
Over this weekend, why don't you ponder over this principle of flexibility and rate your flexibility quotient?
N C Sridharan
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