Are You Grasping At Water? (Maybe That’s Why You’re Not Achieving Your Goals)

I don’t know where I first came across the concept of grasping water. To be honest, I think it was in some cheesy martial-arts flick of some kind or it could’ve been a book, but whatever it was, the idea stuck with me and has made an impact that provides me with an automatic ‘reset’ whenever I’m getting stressed out by circumstances.

I seem to remember a martial arts master talking to an acolyte and explaining that the way he was going through life was like grasping at water.

As an example, he told the young trainee to throw his hands into the water of a nearby pool and grasp for all he was worth in his maximum effort to bring forth as much water as he could in a single attempt.

The young man took a stance, plunged his arm as deep as his elbow into the cold, crystal clear water, closed his fist and pulled his arm back up toward his face.

“Open you hand and show me what you have as a result of your efforts” said the master and the youth complied.

As you can guess, when he opened his hand, nothing but the fainted sheen of water could be seen upon the skin.

“Try again” said the old man and the youth did, this time moving faster, striking harder and gripping for all he was worth. Each time, the same thing happened; a slightly damp hand and nothing more.

Finally, the master walked to the edge of the pool, opened his hand and slowly placed it beneath the surface. With fingers together and his hand shaped into a shallow bowl he raised his hand from the pool to his lips and drank the cool water straight from his palm.

“More often that not” the old man said “in order to get the rewards you seek you have to relax and not try so hard. You have to work with the tools you’ve been given rather than force yourself upon circumstances.

The wise person knows that when what they seek keeps slipping through their fingers, that they’re probably trying too hard. When they realise this, they slow down, relax and cease grasping and water, and as soon as they do… their thirst is quenched”

I took some poetic licence with the story, of course, but that’s essentially how I remember it.

How does that help me and more to the point, how can it help YOU?

Well, like the master says, whenever you’re giving all you’ve got, whenever you’re pushing up against what feels like an immovable object, sometimes, in fact more often than not, the solution lies in slowing down, relaxing and taking the time to really think about whether you’re working as smart as you could be.

We can ALL work harder than we are, but since when was the answer to working too hard to work harder still?

Working smarter always beats working harder.

Always and in all ways.

Stop grasping at water!

Truth, joy and love

Dax Moy

The MAGIC Hundred Goal Achievement Program

P.S – If you liked this short post please leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you