“The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.”
― Confucius
While I think this quote captures with beautiful simplicity our need to reflect on what it means to be strong, I believe there is a time for being the green reed, and a time for being the mighty oak. It all depends on the circumstances we are faced with.
We should strive to build resilience, which I perceive as a means by which we minimise the impact of disruptive external forces on our ability to survive and thrive. In order to this we need to be able to function effectively in the broadest range of circumstances – stable and unstable, static and dynamic – and retain a positive homeostasis, or get back to such a point as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The resilience we must build has many layers – emotional, mental, physical, financial – and I believe is built through observation, learning and hard work. But what is becoming more evident is the need to also consider disaster preparedness. When seeking to build resilience we may overlook the fact that we shouldn’t limit our thinking to the current scenario, but seek to consider a range of potential scenarios, and test ourselves and our lives against them.
We are in the midst of an incredibly dynamic time in history, and COVID-19 has shaken us from our decades-long sleepwalk towards a cliff edge. It has revealed to many of us how fragile our state and the lives we have created within our societies are, and also how fragile the very systems that sustain our societies actually are – throughout Europe in particular, they have been shown to be oaks rather than green reeds, and a huge amount of avoidable suffering has and will continue to be experienced as a consequence.
What do we need to create resilience? From an emotional perspective, we must address any traumas we may have, which affect how we engage with the world now, and might also impact how we respond to situations we may be faced with in the future. The cost of not doing so can be life-changing. We must also seek to have systems in place to help us better manage stress and anxiety, anger and sadness – to allow us to regain homeostasis as quickly as possible. How we handle emotions ultimately dictates how we engage with the world, and how the world will engage with us.
On a physical level, we need to work with what we have and build what we can with it. However, it’s important to understand and explore the fact that where the mind goes, the body follows. To truly achieve resilience it is therefore vital once again that we address any traumas we have, and underlying insecurities, fears and mental health issues that might be impacting our physical selves.
As for financial resilience, CODIV-19 has shown the need to diversify our incomes, and ensure we have emergency funds set aside to allow us to weather an unpredictable storm. This event has shown the value of having some sort of online-based income. But a different event may have different results, and so we need to consider how we might continue to generate revenue despite whatever the unforeseen brings.
It also exposes the need to be able to adapt and respond to signals quickly and effectively. If you are too late off the mark you will potentially be left without the tools needed to protect yourself and survive. Considering the possible responses to a given situation will help you to put things in place to minimise the disruption caused, and your ability to survive.
So, back to the green reed and the oak tree. We need to shift between the two depending on the conditions we are experiencing, or likely to experience, in order to minimise potential disruption. The nature of the reed is better suited to a certain set of parameters, while the nature of the oak is better better suited to others. We therefore need to know when to be the reed and when to be the oak. We need to understand what it takes to be both, and ensure we have the tools required to transition to one or the other.
This is where systems might actually be more suitable than goals. Goals are set at a given point in time, but the world around us is constantly changing, and with it many of the external forces that can influence our lives for better or worse, most of which are out of our direct control. Setting of specific, long-term goals may therefore be a futile endeavour. On the other hand, if we have a good understanding of who we are – a strong sense of self – we can create practices and systems that work with our strengths and nature our passions, and also factor in or counter our weaknesses and struggles.
So long as the systems themselves are adaptive – more like a reed than an oak tree – then they can be modified according to the evolving circumstances. This may affect the outcome and performance of the system, but at least it sustains the forward movement and minimises disruption. So our systems and practices should be adaptive, and we should consider how they can be sustained under a range of scenarios.
Much of what I have said is more in line with the nature of a reed, so when is it best to adopt the nature of an oak? Under the right conditions an oak tree can live for centuries, and the root system and branches will adapt as required to sustain the tree as it grows older. It can outlive many generations of reeds – not everything is a sprint, and sometimes stubborn determination is sometimes necessary to see us through a challenging situation, not just being adaptive.
These are my initial thoughts on Confucius’ words, and I feel I still have a lot more reflecting to do…