Be water, my friend: the 7 laws to adapt to life

In many cases, much of the stress, fear and anguish that we experience on a daily basis is mainly due to the fear of change.

One day we realize that we must accept more and more responsibilities, we notice how old friends leave and we even feel insecure when noticing how our own body is evolving. So much the fear of losing our identity and habits over time The uncertainty that comes from not being sure of what will happen in the future can make our lives bitter.

However, there are certain ways of understanding existence that protect us more against this type of evil. The motto "be water, my friend" that the legendary actor and martial artist Bruce Lee uttered in his last interview is just an example of how some philosophies fully embrace the idea that everything changes, constantly, and that this is good and natural.

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A philosophy of life marked by the acceptance of change

If Asian cultures such as China or Japan have been characterized for something, it is for accepting change. While in the West a way of understanding things has dominated that fueled the need for the human being to dominate the nature and modify it at will, in a large part of the territory of the East, until not so long ago, things were seen in a very different:

Give up the pretense of taming the environment and merge with it, evolving just as the planet does.

This idea was hinted at in a very interesting interview with Bruce Lee recorded in black and white, which became popular in 2007 when one of its fragments was rescued by a BMW television spot from the SCPF advertising agency.

In fact, the most remembered phrase is precisely that in which the good thing about ceasing to fear change and becoming ourselves instead is expressed through a beautiful metaphor: "be water, my friend".

Be water, my friend: what does it mean?

This inspiring phrase is not just a facade, behind it there is a way of understanding things that has thousands of years of tradition behind it. It is about a philosophical principle called Wu Wei, which literally means "No Action" and belongs to a school of thought originating in ancient China called Taoism.

The idea of ​​non-action, as we will see, is radically opposed to the way in which people from Western countries approach things, since it is based on the idea that acceptance and humility is the best way to live and adapt to constant change that characterizes our world.

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The keys to adapt to change

The fundamental idea that governs philosophies such as Taoism, one of the most influential in Chinese culture, is that everything flows and that we should not try to shield ourselves and remain static. This is a very useful perspective when it comes to experiencing the passage of time and experiences, with all that this entails, and can be summarized in 8 laws:

1. change is natural

What always remains the same only exists in our imagination, it is not something real that defines the world in which we live. Even the oldest trees end up drying up, giving way to new life forms and new landscapes.

2. Reality is always ahead of our beliefs

There is no objective way to interpret what surrounds us, since change is always ahead of our ideas and conclusions. This fact makes Chinese philosophy feed an intellectual position based on humility.

3. Destruction is also creation

Everything flows, and that means that even in the most disastrous events there are seeds of opportunity. Taoism expressed a similar idea through a very famous concept: the yin and the yang.

4. Our change is the world's change

We are not separate beings from the rest of the world; and all the processes that take place around us make that we evolve in one direction or another.

5. Don't think in essences

The idea that everything and everyone has an essence is counterproductive, because it only leads us to create labels and rigid concepts that do not explain a changing reality that is immune to the intellectual prisons that these rigid categories suppose.

This maxim is especially important in recent times, characterized by the rapid evolution of life forms due to technological advances and globalization. In the era in which the Internet and 3D printing are changing everything just a few years after their creation, it is absurd to expect everything to stay the same, as if that were to be expected.

6. live in the present

Wanting to build one's life from memories and fixed ideas about identity only generates frustration, because, as we have seen, fluidity, change, is natural. Reality never responds to the pressures of narrowly defined concepts; who was shy and discreet yesterday, today could be denying himself tomorrow by blindly believing in that identity that he has expired.

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7. Do not worry about the forms of who you are, they are already shaped by nature

Acting spontaneously and simply is one of the maxims of Taoism, a philosophy in which it is considered that things work better when we try to less control over our environment and the way in which we project ourselves into it. As Bruce Lee says, water is characterized by having no form; It simply fits over your container.