How "be water" taught me to be better in life

“BE WATER” - Bruce Lee’s most famous quote and the title of the recent documentary on the life of Bruce Lee from the great Bao Nguyen. 

While it’s eye-opening to see the difficult circumstances surrounding him such as racism and perception of his cultural identity (that I as a German-born Chinese can 100% relate to), here’s a few things I took as inspirations for myself.

?Stick to your aspirations

Across his endeavours of opening Kung Fu schools and finally making successful movies - he always wanted to show the beauty of Chinese Culture. We should all find our intrinsic motivations in life and stick to them in everything we do. It's the ultimate key to persistence and success.

????????We’re all human beings

When being asked “Do you see yourself as American or Chinese?” Bruce Lee answered “I see myself first and foremost as a human being - because that’s what we all are”.

Besides us needing to be anti-racist and stopping to think in stereotypes, in our day to day it’s easy to hide behind the anonymity of the internet and stop treating people as people - let’s not forget that we are all human beings with feelings. 

??Bridge the gap 

In Kung Fu it’s about bridging the physical gap to your opponent, and in life Bruce wanted to bridge two different cultures. For me, "bridging the gap” means also being empathetic and understanding each other in every interaction we have - because not doing that usually leads to conflict and pain.

??Be water 

Water is shapeless and adapts to anything, but can also break through the hardest objects. Let’s be flexible and formidable through an open mind about other people’s opinions, but let’s be strong and firm in our beliefs when we know we are doing the right thing.

Be water, my friend.