As some of you know I am a big time bookworm – fantasy being my favorite genre.I devour good books like there is no tomorrow. I recently read the Demon Cycle series by Peter V.Brett. Reason I like fantasy books is because they all have a spiritual, self-help base to them. The characters have to be grounded in something for them to do things which are beyond reality. So in this book they talked about the concept of being like a palm tree and bending with the wind. Letting it all go through you and opposed to blocking it. I love the idea.
I knew in the back of my mind that this happened with palm trees but after reading this I read up a bit more on Palm Trees. They are unique because they can bend all the way down to the ground without bending because of the way they are built internally and not only that it makes them stronger as their roots go further and become more stronger.
It sounds very practical too – “wind is coming and it is strong” what is point in standing. Wind doesn’t care and neither does anybody else. And it only makes the palm tree even stronger. But if the palm tree decided that it is going to show the wind how strong it is – it gets a deluded picture in its head that it is THE palm tree and is very important than all other trees and in order to maintain its respect, esteem it has to stand up to the wind – it will break.
We all do the same at some level for the other – we have delusions about our own grandeur, our own importance or sometimes it is very important for us to be right or be smarter than the rest. Keep in mind these are all delusions that we build in our head and hold them as gospels of the truth as time goes by.
There is nothing great about BEING RIGHT – right and wrong have been changing since the beginning of the world. At one point slavery was accepted now it is frowned upon. Our ancestors lived polygamous life and now for most cases it is frowned upon too. So who is to say that what you think is right today will still be right few years down the line. Why put so much energy into proving you are right or sticking up in the wind when you can strengthen yourself by bending.
Let’s say you are at a stop light in your car and it is green for you. But you can see another car coming at you with full speed. Now should you do the right thing and forge ahead – NO! because then you will be dead right. It is very clear in the car example but in our day to day interactions it is hard to notice. It is ok to do what you think is right but it is not the ultimate goal – is your ultimate goal to be right or is it to reach your final destination in a joyous manner.