agile
adʒʌɪl/ adjective - able to move quickly and easily.
Life is all about change ; it is ambiguous, unpredictable, frustrating…The more attached we are to the outcomes, the more frustrating it get's.
But what if change isn’t the problem? What if the real problem is our inability to manage our expectations, to respond to what is actually happening with clarity and without grasping? Life is simply unfolding, following it’s own unpredictable trajectory of random events. The future is emerging, one moment at a time.
After all, if we can’t cope with what is happening, it must be because we have had an expectation, a deeply held preference for what SHOULD happen, rather than what IS happening.
The secret to agility lies in our ability to let go;
It sounds easy, but really, it isn’t. Simple, but not easy.
Our whole ego structure is about holding onto our sense of self – our stories, our identity, memories, beliefs, likes, dislikes, expectations, victories and traumas…
Master it and you will attain the agile mindset. This is beautifully illustrated in an old Buddhist story about two monks crossing a river…
A senior monk and a junior monk were traveling together. At one point, they came to a river with a strong current. As the monks were preparing to cross the river, they saw a very young and beautiful woman also attempting to cross. The young woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side.
The two monks glanced at one another because they had taken vows not to touch a woman.
Then, without a word, the older monk picked up the woman, carried her across the river, placed her gently on the other side, and carried on his journey.
The younger monk couldn’t believe what had just happened. After re-joining his companion, he was speechless, and an hour passed without a word between them.
Two more hours passed, then three, finally the younger monk could contain himself any longer, and blurted out “As monks, we are not permitted a woman, how could you then carry that woman on your shoulders?”
The older monk looked at him and replied, “Brother, I set her down on the other side of the river, why are you still carrying her?”