Be Water My Friend — Bruce Lee’s Way of Change
Be like water, my friend — said, Bruce Lee. In addition to martial arts and cinema, Bruce Lee was fond of philosophy.
One of his favorite authors was Jiddu Krishnamurti. Therefore, the words of Bruce, as well as the words of his characters in the movies, were often filled with philosophical meaning. What does Bruce Lee’s philosophy of water mean for modern man?
It means that nature takes over man. It makes no sense to resist, water will not flow upwards. The inclinations of the individual will definitely show up. You should not study for a profession that you do not like. You can’t be pretending for too long. You can’t be holding onto willpower for too long.
Willpower is very important. But it’s like a nitro charge. You can use nitrous oxide on a certain section of the track to get past the opponent. But you can’t drive the whole track on nitro. It will be some cheating…
A wise person uses willpower where necessary. But when you turn in the wrong direction, it means losing. And the faster you accelerate, the faster this loss will come.
Willpower can only be used for short periods of your life path. It could be two weeks of sleep deprivation and overtime. But a couple of years of such a regime will lead you to destruction. Even if you are driving in the right direction, your motor will burn out.
We can burn, but only for a short time. A lot of willpower will mean burnout.
Let’s clarify the concept of willpower. I mean here what is most often considered to be willpower — it’s the ability to force yourself. To force yourself to do more than you want, to force yourself to do faster, to force yourself to do what you don’t want to. It is a very important skill in life. But we don’t dream of living our whole lives the way we don’t want to, right?
What remains? The water path remains. In short periods, fire is possible — your internal supply of nitro because not every moment of your life will be exactly the way you want it (even in the right direction). For the long term — the path of water, the path of least resistance. By least resistance, I don’t mean your laziness, I mean naturalness.
When you get the talent, it’s natural to use it. Giving the talent (a measure of silver) to the money changers is the path of least resistance. Burying silver and not using it is laziness.
The path of water is always a movement towards something new, towards change.
Many people are afraid of change. Because they have something to lose, or they are just afraid of the unknown. But look at what is happening in the world right now: pandemics, global warming, the full-scale war that Russia launched against Ukraine, and, as a result, the economic recession. Change happens suddenly, often not in the way we would like, but it does happen.
Despite the war, marriages are made in Ukraine, including among the military (the bride and groom serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine are not uncommon). Children are born, new lives are born, and there is new hope for a peaceful future. Change is the most stable thing in life.
There are 2 main vectors of change:
- those that lead to chaos;
- those that lead to order.
Change towards order is the essence of life. If we can ride the wave of change towards order, it will fill us with vitality and lead to harmony. Be like water, my friend.
