Goo Goo Gaa Gaa

1 Corinthians 13: 11

Met a gentleman and his 10-month old son today.

We shared an insightful conversation about married life and the adjustments a man must make when moving onto next chapters of life.

I learned a great deal in not only asking questions about child care, but also about growing along with an addition to the family.

We share a similar background and current dynamics.

After I answered his question about my current occupation, he mentioned several authors whose writings helped him bring new approach to life.

He shared about a the writer Eiji Yoshikawa who wrote a story about a warrior swordsman that one day decided to become a farmer.

He was horrible at farming, not knowing much about farming nor how to apply his previous work experiences to growing food.

Other farmers would pass by laughing at his dismal failure.

But the warrior-turned-farmer didn't allow failure or criticism to cause him to quit.

He began to look at the new surroundings, the landscape, and applied what he did know about being a warrior to farming.

A warrior is always aware of his surroundings and uses what is around him to his advantage.

The warrior doesn't try to change his surroundings, but rather incorporates their surroundings into their strategy.

The warrior becomes a student and learns from the environment, going along with the challenges, not trying to oppose the challenges as one would suppose.

Like the Bruce Lee quote: 

“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.”

My new friend shared with me how this warrior began to work with the terrain, learning which way the wind blows, the contours of the land and the direction and speed of the river...all to his advantage.

In due time, by adapting to the surroundings (and not desiring to make the surroundings submit to his way), the warrior soon became a more successful farmer than his peers who previously ridiculed him.

The warrior brought a new perspective to farming that had not been realized before.

What sparked this response from my new friend was my comment that when I married my wife, I had to put much of my pride aside in order to adjust to my wife, who is now a singular part of me.

I mentioned how he must have also done an adjustment of sorts to welcome his baby boy into the world.

He shared with me how, instead of trying to make his child adjust to his or his wife's time schedule, he and his wife instead learned to observe their child for changes in mood; hunger, sleepiness, diaper changing, etc.

He explained how in adjusting to others, and new situations, their home is a happier and more peaceful place.

I learned once again that the journey of personal growth is like a continual peeling away at an onion...and we are like an onion.

Mankind was created to grow, to learn, to thrive and to peel away what doesn't work.

Just like peeling away at an onion, tears may come, but the outer layers need to be removed in order to get to what is palatable.

I remarked, as Wisdom would show the student, how children are truly a blessing in so many ways.