There are many lessons you can learn from the natural world, but do you know how to apply these lessons? Let us revisit the concept of flexibility by looking at what the Tao te Ching says about it:

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.

So, how can this message from one of the oldest books in human history apply to us?

We could look at it from the physical side of things, and know that we must keep our bodies flexible to stay healthy. Other examples would be plants, the most flexible can withstand hurricane force winds, green wood bends but does not break, dry wood does not bend, but breaks easily.

Even architects and engineers have to use this principle of flexibility, skyscrapers must be built to sway in the wind, and buildings that withstand earthquakes must have flexibility at their foundation.

But let us apply this lesson to our minds, to our habits, to our actions. Living by the adage: “Well, that’s just the way we’ve always done it.” Is being inflexible.

Alfred Perlman said, “After you’ve done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully. After five years, look at it with suspicion. After ten years, throw it away and start all over.”

Take a look at your life and ask what areas could I be more flexible? Is there a situation in your life where you have decided that you are not going to budge, but if you did become flexible it might resolve the conflict?

Now, I am not suggesting that you be wishy-washy about your core values or your integrity, what I am saying is that you know the difference in you heart.

When you are in the habit of having flexibility, then when the hurricane comes, you will be like the palm tree and survive the storm.

Be Free!

Tom Weber
Instructor

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