Bowing

Recently central Texas experienced an unusual ice storm. We get one every few years, but this was different. A thunderstorm moved through very early one morning when the temperature was just below freezing. That caused ice accumulations on elevated surfaces, which included tree limbs. The ice was three quarters of an inch thick. The result was thousands of broken branches and widespread power outages because the falling limbs brought down power lines.

I noticed that trees with rigid branches broke more often than trees whose branches were flexible. When I first started my series of blog posts on rebounding I mentioned that a quality I want for my daughters is resilience. Rebound I hope they are able to withstand the ice storms that will come their way by bowing to the inevitable. Being rigid was a problem for the trees, not the ice. It’s similar in my life.

I believe in a life governed by principles. It gives me a compass by which I steer my life. I know the direction I want to go and what I am about. However, I also understand that life’s storms will blow me off course from time to time. My principles will help me get back on track. I rely on those principles, but at the same time it helps to be flexible towards new information. I am not the same person I was a few years ago, much less decades. I am on the lookout for data that will help me improve on my core beliefs.

I accomplish that by often asking  a simple question, “How do I know that?” What am I basing my beliefs upon? Did I accept the first piece of evidence that agreed with what I already thought, or wanted to believe? What information have I not examined? How reliable are the sources I am using? How does this information match up with other facts on the subject?

I want to know if my principles are able to withstand the weight of evidence from other points of view. Am I hanging my hopes on something that will eventually come crashing down? I do my best to go with core values that have been proven to serve many different belief systems over the history of civilization. A few of those are the value of love, living a life outside of my own self interest, and being in the present moment. I don’t see these breaking because they have had a positive track record for centuries and make sense after my examination.

However, as I said earlier I stay open to new information and am willing to bow to the weight of new evidence. Some of the most important concepts in my life, I have learned after I turned sixty years old. The trees proved that flexibility is stronger than being rigid in an ice storm. The same is true with my thinking.

May you have enough today, one moment at a time.