Strategy of the cork

“When the water rises, so does the boat.”

Don’t we all need firm ground under our feet?
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Don’t we guard our sturdy roots and reliable traditions?

Don’t we build homes, sweet homes, with solid walls and deep foundations to withstand adversity?

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Misfortunately, no ramparts resist the water that surges, when change floods and the wheels of History start to move. The unmoving attachment of the building becomes its very weakness and demise.

To prepare for times of change, I recall the Hagakure, the book of the samurai from old: “When the water rises, so does the boat.” [1] This is how I interpret it: Instead of bracing to keep where you are, have an open plan, as simple and light as a cork; be ready to float and rise wherever the water will soar.

This means among other subtle things, that you should not plan firmly what you will do in in this and that condition - which is equivalent with defending a fixed position - but plan instead what you will pursue in any conditions, to keep afloat and to sail, with your purpose, your values and your direction. Fluctuat nec mergitur... Curiously, in unfavourable times, the more you are flexible seen from outside, the better you can be unyielding at the core. I saw those who do the opposite, broken quite quickly.

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[1] The precise quotation is "The more the water, the higher the boat." Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure, The Book of the Samurai (Translation By W. S. Wilson), Kodansha International, Tokyo..., 1979.  As Daniel says, the boat is  who you are, the identity that gives worth to your life.