An Inspirational Bruce

Looking for inspiration when times get stressful, I try to remind myself that there is a certain dignity which can be maintained if your mental state is truly unperturbed by the forces of the world around you. It's something often talked about in the eastern religions and the phony self help section of Barnes and Noble. On a particular day, I went to the gym and felt my mind clear after pushing heavy objects around and sweating for an hour or so. The superficialities of time, money, and relationships melted away for that brief hour due to my focus on simply moving a weight in a certain direction with a certain part of my body. When I left, some of those superficialities moved back in, but not fully. Over time of course they did and my stress returned; the anxiety, the "woulda shoulda's," and the expectations put upon me by persons in my life.

I've always had an interest in the martial arts, both for the practicality of it and for the fitness of mind and body. However, I never pursued it. I never chose to study formally under any school or teacher, only picking up pieces gleaned through curiousity. More so recently, that curiousity is stronger, but not for the reasons I would have thought. I certainly first liked the thought of being able to defend myself and improve my skill set in dealing with the people I deal with on a day to day basis. You could call it the physical aspect of the arts. There are technical skills which can be learned, practiced over and over and put into play at very critical moments in order to ensure the safety of yourself or others. Now I find myself much more interested in the mental aspect of them. Someone that I know very little about, but always had an interest in and who seems to embody what I'm thinking of is Bruce Lee.

Despite his fame, I say despite because so often fame dilutes what wisdom could be gained from someone. He was known for his technical ability and unquenchable curiousity about fighting and more specifically, winning. However, I came across some sayings and quotes of his that I do draw inspiration from. Wisdom that is not really about fighting at all, simply about living and being happy.

"Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. "



This is actually a quote by William Channing, but for some reason I stumbled acrossed it as being connected to Bruce Lee and it pretty much sums it up.

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common -- this is my symphony."