Learning from a River

Learning from a River

You should be like a river. Keep flowing. Do not stop. You may rest for a while, but you have to get up and start walking. There will be obstacles in your path. Tackle them with full mirth. You may succeed or fail. If you succeed pat yourself on the back. If you fail, look at the event as a lesson to learn. No point getting upset. You see everyone has difficulties but that is not the end of the world. As long as you are breathing, you have a job to do. A flowing river can erode a rock. The only thing that is needed is patience. (which is infinite for a river) Although the rock looks to be stronger than the river, it’s the consistency that wins. Here is the song of a river:

I flow and flow and flow and flow

And join the brimming river

For men may come and men may go

But I go on forever

The point I’m trying to make is that the river is

• Active Always
• Consistent
• Humble
• Non-Judgemental
• Strong

We need to pick up some brownie points from here. Especially the first one ‘Active Always’. We as humans need a lot of time to relax. Most of us can only work for 8-10 hours continuously. Unlike the river, we need rest. Here’s a tag line ‘Rest if you must, but don’t you quit’. This is a very important point. The longer we can work, (with full attention) the better it is. Every day we must stretch that wee little bit and learn. When we go to sleep, we should be satisfied that we have acquired something new. Although we can’t work for 24 hours in a day, even a 5-8 hour fully productive day is worth it.

The second aspect of the river is that it is consistent. This is the reason why we need a routine. We should have a morning/afternoon/evening/night ritual. Like a servo motor that corrects itself, we also must adjust our approach. It’s called the Learn-Do cycle. And that is all there is to life. Make mistakes. But correct them. Learn from them. Your routine should generate results on autopilot also. Your presence is not required for every job. You can delegate some of them and you can schedule some for later. The more automatic you are, the more the results. The river doesn’t put any effort. Effortless, you should also be.

The third aspect of the river is that it’s humble. I’m not comparing it with a human. Note that the river goes about doing its task (flowing) nonchalantly. The fourth aspect is that the river is Non-judgemental. You see many people come to the river for bathing, washing, etc. There are also many aquatic creatures inside the river. The river is the same for everybody. It does not judge anyone. That is the reason it is so fresh. We as human beings are quite subjective in outlook. Look at things objectively. The last feature is that the river is strong. It’s not the six-pack that makes you strong. Neither intellectual might. What makes you strong is your attitude, not your background. Don’t judge yourself by your past. The river has no recollection of the past. But it’s consistent and does not complain. Let’s all be like the river.

God Bless!