THE EMPTY BOAT

(A Wisdom Story)

There is a Taoist story about a man who repaints his boat. He’s so pleased with how it looks that he decides to take it out on the lake.

As he steers through the fog, another boat slams into his, damaging the new paint job. The man is furious. Why didn’t the person in the other boat pay attention and watch where he was going?

The man turns to yell at the person in the other boat, and finds that there is no one there. It’s just an empty boat, drifting on the lake.

Moral of the story: In life, we will encounter countless collisions – harsh words, rudeness, road rage, unfair treatment, etc. Most of the time, our reactions have very little to do with what actually happened, but from our perception of the negative intent behind the collision.

While you cannot always control what happens, you can choose how you respond. Embracing the Empty Boat mindset makes you realise that most daily annoyances are just “empty boats” with no one steering.

Real strength is not in shouting louder but in staying calm when chaos comes your way. Save your peace; don’t fight empty boats.