I believe that life comes at you in waves. One morning, you wake up to terrible news. The next, you are on top of the world. But I also believe in agency. I believe in the power of I and We. Life, though, is much more than I.
It is everything.
As an individual, you can decide whether to ride the current or fight the tide. I think that throughout life, you are required to do a combination of both.
During some ‘seasons,’ you are forced to ‘go with life.’ When I write this, I am thinking of all of the time I spent abroad, in China and Central Vietnam, pretty much stranded and helpless. There was nothing I could do to occlude life. I just had to go with it. I could not worry about calling a cab. I could not worry about getting things perfect.
I had to let life take me.
In those moments, I needed to ride the wave to shore.
There are other times where I find it important to think for myself and contrast the tide. I do not believe in following sheep for the sake of following sheep. So I often have to swim the other direction.
Understanding “waves” helps you put things in perspective. Do you ride or do you fight?