When the Life Boat Becomes an Anchor

The Buddhists tell the following tale[1]

A man on a long journey comes to river. He builds a raft out of branches and reeds and uses it to the cross the river. Once across, he is taken with how useful his raft has been. He cannot bring himself to abandon it, so he decides to carry the raft with him. Thus, the man voluntarily assumes an unnecessary burden. The Buddhist asks: is this a wise man?

In our journey of growth and enlightenment, we often need a vehicle to get from point A to point B. We develop a system or a process to address a certain problem, and it works for a stretch of time.

The challenge is in knowing when to release that support tool.

The illusion is that the solutions that worked in the past will work in the future.

Circumstances change. The world changes. The game changes. The tools you need change.

What got you to where you are won’t get you to the next place.

To facilitate transformation, we must be willing to abandon old structures and systems.

The structures that save you can also harm you.

On dry land, the life boat becomes an anchor.

All change requires us to let go of old ways and embrace new systems and structures.

Often, this is where we resist. Like the man in the tale, we cling to the systems and structures that got us across the river. Maybe we will need them again.

Destruction is part of the process of creation. Releasing old ways is necessary to move forward.

Sometimes you must give up to gain.

In these last two weeks of the year, you may be beginning to think about what you want to create in the year ahead. An essential part of that process is to ask the question few people dare to ask:

What must I give up?