Card #671 – Adaptation

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Keep adapting to changing conditions. Stephen Covey says, “The proactive person brings their own weather with them.”

Persevere, and don’t be driven up and down by the inevitable vicissitudes of fortune and circumstance.

That’s the short version; for those willing to read more, what follows are some warrior aphorisms and quotes on adaptation:

“Forget the flight plan,from this moment on we are improvising the mission.”
— from the movie Apollo 13

The next four are from Deng Ming-Dao, a modern Taoist sage:

“When unpredictable things happen, those who follow Tao are skilled at improvisation. If circumstances deny them, they change immediately.”

“When one senses that one has come to the limits of the time and situation, one should conserve one’s energy. Often, this will be in preparation for a challenge to the limits, or a changing over to a new set of constraints.”

“When things go badly, those who follow Tao seek the causes and correct them. If the problem cannot be corrected, they shift the entire frame of reference so that the relative importance of the problem is diminished or eliminated . . .”

“Never underestimate the value of a partial solution.”

— Deng Ming-Dao

“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.”
— Edmund Burke

The following six quotes come from the writings of hoaxer/genius Carlos Castaneda and are attributed to Don Juan:

“The ordinary man views everything as either a blessing or a curse. The Warrior takes everything as a challenge.”

“There are always cubic centimeters of chance that power makes available to the Warrior. The Warrior’s art is to be perennially fluid in order to pluck them.”

“To be a Warrior means to be humble and alert.”

“A Warrior should strive to meet any conceivable situation, the expected and the unexpected, with equal efficiency. To be perfect under perfect circumstances is to be a paper Warrior.”

“In the midst of great difficulty, a tiny opportunity will open, if only by chance. You must be sharp enough to discern it, quick enough to catch it, and determined enough to do something with it.”

“A Warrior must be fluid and shift harmoniously with the world around him.” Don Juan/Casteneda (and above)

See “Warrior Stance” in the categories section of this site.