Blog by: Lata Advani Viseu

I said, empty your mind.
Be formless, shapeless, like water.
Now you put water into a cup,
it becomes the cup,
you put water into a bottle,
it becomes the bottle.
You put it into a teapot,
it becomes the teapot.
Now water can flow,
or it can crash.
Be water my friend.
Bruce Lee

Water is powerful. Water can transform from liquid to solid to vapor. It has no shape or form, yet it takes on the form of whatever you put it in. Likewise, the thoughts you fill your mind with, is what shapes your life.

Water teaches us to embrace change and to go with the flow. We can drown in the depths of the deep sea of our sorrow, anger and hurt, or we can glide through life like a gentle stream.

Life is full of ups and downs and many a time we must face obstacles and challenges that we have no control over. The only thing we can control is how we react to any situation. In times like these, we can learn from water and go with the flow, let it wash off our back and keep on going.

Water is also a symbol of life and a reflection of self and of transformation. Water teaches us to be patient and persistent, to slowly chip away at obstacles and when possible, to gently go around them.

I love both the sound of the gentle flow of a stream and the sound of water as it crashes on the seashore. Dripping water can cut through rocks and mountains, or it can glide gently over them and in between the creaks. Water is versatile.

The only thing that can quench my thirst when I am thirsty, is the tasteless taste of water. The feel of water in the shower, symbolically cleanses and washes away all my worries or sorrows daily.

The sound of a downpour and rain splashing on my windowpane on a hot summer day or on a dark, windy night with lightning and thunder, soothes my spirit. The smell of the earth after heavy rains, brings me back to memories of yesteryears…I call it the smell of Shillong.

What I like about water is, it goes where it wants to go. When there is an obstacle in its way, water goes around it. Water is patient and goes with the flow. Be like water my friend.

Some people come into your life like a storm and disappear, while others with their gentle presence flow along with you like a stream through life. Like all rivers that flow into the ocean, we are all connected.

Every person we meet teaches us something we have yet to learn, and we keep meeting people that trigger us because we have yet to learn the lesson we need to learn and once we do, there are no triggers. We become calm like the sea after the storm.

Why is it that the sight of water, whether it’s a stream, a pond, a waterfall, a lake or an ocean makes everything seem like all is right in the world? Water is life. Be like water my friend.

“In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans.” — Kahlil Gibran

“As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.” – Lau Tzu

“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”― Ryunosuke Satoro

“No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.” – Taoist proverb

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