I once read a quote attributed to H. Jackson Brown that says, “In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins… not through strength, but through persistence.”
This is a beautiful personification that exemplifies the importance of persistence. However, there is another perspective.
We like to personify nature akin to the way we live our own lives. If we live in confrontation in our own lives, naturally we’d see confrontation in everything, even something as simple as a stream flowing over some rocks. After all, you can’t have persistence without confrontation to endure in order to give rise to the virtue of persistence. But what if our perspective is skewed and there is no confrontation, and therefore no persistence?
When I look at a rock well worn from a flowing stream, I do not see a confrontation nor do I see persistence. I see a harmonious relationship between what we call the stream and the rock. The rock doesn’t object to the stream’s desire to flow over and through. It simply adapts by allowing itself to change and wear down to allow the stream’s flow. The rock does not resist what is. It allows what is. The rock allows the natural progression of life to unfold.
The rock is not in battle with the stream. The stream is not persistent. And the rock is not defeated. What is occurring is a beautiful dance with all parts played in harmony. Without this dance, there would be no waterfalls. Without the rocks, we would never see a stream flowing. The rock and stream are one grand display of life moving and dancing.
When we remove the story of confrontation, then the story of persistence also disappears. Can we be inspired by a flowing stream without inventing a story of persistence? Can we be inspired simply by noticing what is?
When we personify what we experience in nature, we do so based on the script of our life. And if the script of our life is a confrontation, then that is what we will see everywhere we look.
Only when we change the script of our life can we see things as they are.