Be Like Bruce Lee, Be Water
Bruce Lee is one of the famous names in popular culture.
Despite his untimely death 50 years ago, Lee is still a revered figure.
His movies are still watched to this day and his quotes have become legendary. One in particular stands out:
"Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water it can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."
There's a lot to unpack here but Lee's quote is profound. He encourages us to adopt the qualities of water. A loose, formless liquid which adapts to its surroundings.
Water flows through cracks, it crashes over boundaries, it is still and volatile in equal measure. Water is formless. If you spill water on the floor, it spreads where it can. Unafraid to explore without care or anxiety.
You can be like water too. Adapting to circumstances around you and thriving. Life is not meant to be lived in a single form. You don't walk down one path in life, you walk down many.
To follow a set path is to close your mind to the possibility of other paths. Instead of flowing freely, you're placing arbitrary restrictions on yourself.
Be open to new ideas. Embrace the ever-changing nature of reality rather than pining for an imagined future or a rose-tinted past.
Like water, you can adapt and overcome life's obstacles. Able to find a way through even the most impenetrable of walls.
Water can't be broken, it can't be hurt. It changes, gives life and shapes the world around it.
Be water, my friend.