The following is an excerpt from the great book 365 Tao (highly recommended), which contains a short message for each day of the year. This is today’s message, day 349. My take away from this message is to live authentically. Even if we are feeling trapped in a world we didn’t feel like we created, but somehow became entrapped in, if we can begin finding our authentic selves and do something…anything consistently to bring us to that place, we will begin to build momentum and strength. Water will always find a way; it will always be consistent…and it will NEVER quit! These are the timeless analogies and lessons that inspire me. I hope you can hear the message as well! Action! Start today! Read that book, take that walk, listen to the “personal development” audio, and stay with it until something inspires you. You will become inspired, then all you need is to learn the lessons of the water and be relentlessly consistent! This is your time and it is limited. OWN IT!!! There is no”have to” in the authentic life. Find that place of the inspired “want to” and build your authentic life from there.
Water
Drops.
Water cleanses,
Gathers in the earth.
Tender. Invasive. Subtle.
Emerges a shining river.
When small, it is weak.
When great, it tumbles mountains,
Rendering cliffs
Sand.
Classic wisdom says that there is nothing weaker than water, yet when united, it can become a titanic force. Like a tidal wave. Or a river that cuts through gorges. This is called the yielding overcoming the hard.
Let’s look at it another way. Water does not overcome because it yields. It overcomes because it is relentless. It perseveres and does not give up. It is constant. Rock can block water. Rock can even hold water in a lake for thousands of years. Why can’t the yielding overcome the hard then? Because it cannot move. It cannot work its magic of being relentless.
Just as water must be able to express its true nature in a relentless way, so too must we simultaneously and relentlessly express our true natures if we are to be successful in life. Otherwise, we will find ourselves hemmed in by the hard walls of reality, and we will never be able to break through.
But how so we acquire such perseverance? We start small.
As drops.
