I was walking on the pier in Dun Laoghaire this morning. The clouds were low and the wind was strong and gusty. I noticed a raven flying overhead. It was flapping its wings madly, trying to counter the blows of the wind, totally unbalanced and looking really vulnerable. Then, just above the struggling raven, I saw a seagull. With its wings spread wide, it was gliding effortlessly on the same wind that was causing so much trouble for poor raven. The seagull looked completely relaxed. It did not fight the wind, it was using it. It did not try to go through the gusts; it glided and slid over them. The raven was like an external martial arts practitioner. It was strong and able to fight against a strong opposing force, but spending huge amount of energy to achieve this, and constantly on a verge of defeat. The seagull was like an internal martial arts practitioner. It didn’t fight the opposing force. It evaded the force, used it, and moved through it, all the time in a perfect balance and calm, using minimum effort to achieve maximum goals.
And then a really strong gust of wind blew my hat straight into the sea.
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