Bamboo

Bamboo is sometimes used as a protective barrier. Certain species of bamboo are strong and lightweight, making them flexible in the wind.  

Openings

Openings ask a lot of us. They present challenges, confront us and ask us to grow. They have their own wind that presses us while we identify, ponder and choose them. How can we respond to this wind? The bamboo plant may serve as a model. It lessens the force of the wind and still stands tall. It is flexible, can move with the wind and not be broken.

Bamboo is ready for the wind whenever it comes. Openings often come unannounced. We are going about ordinary life and there they are. They may bring an immediate wind that rearranges things. Or their movement beckons us as we face a choice whether to enter them. Openings may have wind within them. Once we enter, that wind may confront us.

It is a wind that brings the change that characterizes Openings. We don’t want the wind to derail us from the Opening or slow us down. Sometimes it is a gentle breeze, but not often. Change involves movement. How do we create our own protective barrier that allows us to take full advantage of Openings without it cutting us off or limiting us?

Staying Flexible

Flexibility is not weakness. It allows us to navigate the constant movement of life. It acknowledges reality – that nothing stays the same. It allows us to adapt to ever-changing conditions with our center intact. It allows us to yield to what we encounter as an Opening presents itself. It implies movement without breaking. We stay in form and deal with whatever is presenting itself.

For some, it is not easy to be flexible. They are frustrated when things do not go as they want them to. They may have set expectations of how something will play out and what occurred was very different from their expectations. They have prepared for another scenario and feel limited in dealing with what has happened. Adapting to the present is challenging for them.

Cultivating our ability to be fully in the present moment enhances our flexibility. We can assess where we are however unexpected, and move forward from there. Without flexibility, or the ability to bend like the bamboo plant, we can break or lose the ability to progress with an Opening. Acceptance is important too. Letting ourselves surrender to what is, rather than futilely wishing otherwise.