pooh looking

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there someday.”
Winnie the Pooh

While Pooh is attributed to this quote I actually believe I have seen versions of it in Confucius or Buddhism writings (of course this Pooh quote can be found in the book The Tao of Pooh so maybe that is where the link is).

I just finished reading a difficult complex read but a really fun read … a novel called “The Godfather of Katmandu.” It is interspersed with Tibetan Buddhism thinking from a Thai perspective and a Tibet perspective (seemingly similar with nuances).

I know.

I am pretty sure Pooh has never been to Tibet or studied Buddhism … but for a bear with fluff in his head he thinks and says some pretty insightful things.

I do know the oriental world has such a different view on time, and hurrying, than Americans do.

And I often wonder if we could learn something from them (although I do believe that if everyone felt the same culturally it would be a very boring world).

 

Sometimes I believe we think in terms of minutes and they think in terms of days.

If we have a five year plan they have a hundred year plan.

We hurry to get things done in our lives and they patiently do things in lifetimes.

I would imagine it helps if you believe if you don’t do it in this lifetime it will happen in one of your lifetimes (that whole reincarnation thing). I guess something like that gives some perspective on the importance of time.

So. Back to the quote.River+of+Time

Rivers don’t suggest you stand there and take what life has to give you without fighting back.

Nor does it suggest that you should stand and watch the river go by without you.

What it may suggest though is patience while still moving forward.

It definitely suggests that there is an art to hurrying. If you can flow instead of rush you will get there … and maybe do it with some beauty and grace.

Next time you see a river take a second and watch. It is going someplace. Not hurrying but certainly going somewhere. And if you are patient it will get you there, wherever there may be, someday.

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Written by Bruce