This short video clip reveals a great deal about adaptation. It has nothing to do with martial arts and everything to do with how one should/can adapt to changing situations. Anxiety, depression, stress, these things can cause us to recoil from ourselves and the world. We do this in hopes of making the pain stop, but what Bruce Lee suggests is preferable since it can help us to absorb the shock of our anxious state.
Water is formless and non-resistant, if only we could have our mental states and emotions follow this line. This malleable state would be beneficial but of course this would require preparation. Like most things we learn we have to practice them before we get good at it. In the case of living with anxiety this means accepting, flowing with, and relaxing in the face of anxiety which can only help us to relieve the constant tension and fear we live with, a chance to rest.
I’m sure you read the title and figured that Bruce Lee had noting to teach you about dealing with anxiety, but being formless and free flowing can be applied to any life situation, especially this one. “Attacking” this condition is not the only way to make progress toward a more normal life.
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That was a great clip! I want to watch a Brice Lee movie now! But there is a lot of truth in it though. I spend a lot of time trying to get back to just flowing with life, not worrying or thinking about what’s coming your way. Maybe I’ll get there one day!
Yup, I was hoping that everyone wouldn’t see this as a joke. Lee had a very good point. It sounds strange, but when you’ve had anxiety for awhile you have to learn how to relax all over again.
The Doctor Claire Weekes advice for anxiety sufferers in similar- she describes a state of floating through it. She is by far the best thing that ever happened to me since I got anxiety, although her books are old (and she has passed) she was dead-on. For those suffering I HIGHLY recommend.
Thanks for posting this!
thank you Kelly