There are two stories I want to share today, the first one is a short story from Chuang Tzu.
He tells of a monk meditating on a lake. Another boat collides with his, and anger rises.
He opens his eyes to confront the careless person, only to realize the boat is empty.
No villains.
No intentions.
Just a drifting boat, pushed by wind and current.
The next story, is Jesus and the Fig Tree.
Jesus approaches a fig tree that’s full of leaves but has no fruit and curses it.
Lots of leaves.
No fruit.
No spiritual substance.
Just a system that looks alive, but isn’t producing what it was made to produce.
Put them together and you get a framework I keep coming back to when life hits me unexpectedly sideways.
Some collisions are empty boats. Others are fruitless trees.
Both can be frustrating for many reasons.
Both can definitely cost you.
But most often they require totally different responses.
Most conflict I have found gets worse the moment I add a sentence to someone else’s behavior.
They did it on purpose.
They were trying to undermine me.
They wanted to embarrass me.
The ego makes everything feel personal. Often it isn’t.
Sometimes it’s just wind and current. Bad timing. Miscommunication.
Someone under a burden they haven’t shared.
I am not saying to “ignore the collision.”
I am saying the lesson is, "don’t invent intent without truth or evidence."
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