Thursday, August 31st, 2006
Enjoy The Journey
We are always in a hurry! That’s what modern life is all about. Always trying to move faster, to make it first, or better still to make it now.
Somewhere along the way, we have forgotten that life (and business) shouldn’t be a race. It should be a journey. And like any other journey, we should take our time, enjoy the scenery, and even make some detours, whether or not they seem to serve any immediate goal.
In a journey, nothing is a waste of time or a waste of energy. It’s not that everything is “meant to be”, but we can certainly learn from whatever comes our way.
But to do well in your journey you need some tools in your sack. One of these tools reminds me of a tale I once heard. It goes something like this…
***
Once upon a time there was an old Chinese wise man (all good tales have one, don’t they). He lived in solitude in a monastery surrounded by a thick forest. His mission in life was to pass on the ancient secrets of martial arts to the younger generation. Once in three years the wise man opened the doors of his monastery and chose an apprentice to pass on his knowledge to. The chosen apprentice lived with the wise man for three years, until it was time to choose a new one.
One night, the young apprentice noticed that as evening fell his master would disappear into the woods and show up again only after midnight. He was even more surprise the next day when the same thing happened again. After a week, the young apprentice decided to follow his master and see what he was doing out there in the woods.
After the daily lesson finished, the young apprentice waited in his room until he saw his master going toward the woods. He followed him, making sure not to be noticed. After walking for an hour, the wise man stopped. He put down his sack and sat down on the ground. The apprentice watched him quietly. The old man started talking to himself. The apprentice could not hear what he was saying. Suddenly, the old man stood up and began to move around. He seemed to repeat the exact same moves he had taught apprentice earlier that day. Strange, the apprentice thought to himself, but he said nothing to his master the following morning.
The next day, the apprentice again followed his master into the woods. And again, he was witness to the same strange act. The same thing happened the day after, and the day after that.
After a week, the apprentice’s curiosity overcame him. He decided to ask his master the meaning of his behavior.
“Excuse me master, I must humbly ask you, what it is you do out there in the woods every night?” the young apprentice asked once his daily lesson was over.
“Each night”, answered the wise man, “I go out to the forest and teach the trees and the stones the secrets of martial arts”.
“But that doesn’t make sense”, the apprentice said indecisively. “The trees and the stones will never learn martial arts. They cannot move. This is just a waste of your valuable time”.
“You may be right, the trees and the stones will probably never be able to practice martial arts”, said the wise man. “But it is certainly not a waste of my time”, he continued, “as every night the trees and the stones teach me, in return, the nature of patience”.
***
Dedicated to all my friends and colleagues with whom I had the pleasure to work for the past seven years.