In a previous post, I wrote about the importance of always being responsive to one's environment and others in this environment. For Sun Tzu, this is crucial because one's strategy in war highly depends on these two factors - the environment and one's enemy.
In saying this, though, it's important to understand exactly what this "responsiveness" entails. It can easily be construed as worry or waiting in hope for things to go your way. The Sun Tzu Way, at its core, is a philosophy of realism - of making decisions based on reality, on what's realistically or actually possible. It's not based on idealism - on what you think "should" be. This is why I articulate the rule, "Be in-tune, not indifferent. Be attentive, not attached." It helps to place responsiveness between two extremes of behavior, both of which do not allow you to understand your reality. "Be in-tune, not indifferent." Being in-tune comes from the understanding that life often moves in cycles. These cycles encompass what Sun Tzu calls Heaven (Tian) - the cycles of life and death, of cold and hot, of day and night, of seasonal storms (thunderstorms, hurricanes, blizzards, etc.). None of these cycles are within an army's control. And yet they can greatly affect one's situation and chances for success. The general must be in-tune with these cycles. He must pay attention to them, anticipate them, and use his knowledge and experience of them to help formulate his overall strategy. It would be disastrous not only for his army, but for the nation's security, to ignore or be indifferent to these cycles in his planning. In life, we too also deal with cycles. Not just the physical cycles of Mother Nature, but also the cycles of human nature: generational cycles, economic cycles, political cycles, financial cycles, cultural cycles. We also have internal cycles - cycles that govern our changes in our mood, our attitude, our emotions, and our energy levels. These cycles have a huge effect on our ability to achieve calm and security and serenity in our lives. Thus, we must become in-tune with them - attentive to them, able to anticipate their changes, and willing to use our knowledge and experience of them in our decision-making. For example, understanding your spouse's emotional cycle helps in formulating a strategy for how you address an issue with them or communicate an idea. Understanding the business cycle of the company you work for helps in formulating a strategy for when you ask for a raise or promotion. If we ignore them or try to be indifferent to these things, we risk inviting undue stress, frustration, and disappointment. But even more, if we are indifferent, it makes developing a realistic strategy - one with a strong probability of success - much harder and more costly than it would have been otherwise. "Be attentive, not attached." One potential danger of being so in-tune with things outside of our control us that we can start to rely on our expectations of these changes in cycle. Like economists who are constantly crying about a recession coming, it is very easy to "predict" that something bad (or good) is going to happen - all we need to do is wait. But life does not operate this way. The problem with things not being in our control is that we cannot fully predict when or how changes will occur. Life is, ultimately, governed by chaos. We may be able to predict that a hurricane will probably occur next year, but we cannot say exactly when. We may be able to say that a recession will come, but we cannot predict exactly how or when or why. This is why, for Sun Tzu, the general must constantly be attentive to his environment. He must constantly be observing changes in his environment and asking questions about its meaning. He looks at how the enemy reacts to different situations or how the trees or animals move. He even pays attention to what isn't happening. For example, if birds gather and do not take flight, then that indicates the enemy is not present. If the enemy has the opportunity to attack, but doesn't take it, this may indicate the enemy's soldiers are tired. What's equally important is that the skilled general is not attached to any of these things. It would be disastrous for a general to be attached to his interpretation of a situation, as situations can be deceiving. The enemy could be trying to fool you, or the weather may change without a moment's notice. Rather the general is led by his questions. He is always continually investigating. He always keeps himself protected before taking action and moves cautiously, ready to adapt or withdraw if the situation seems suspicious. He only takes action if there is a clear advantage. This is the attitude that we should take in life - to be attentive, not attached. Being attached to our opinions or beliefs divorces us from reality. Oftentimes we tell ourselves a story when things occur. A colleague hesitates to give their opinion on an idea we have, and we assume that they don't like it. A friend fails to respond to our text and we think they must be upset with us. Or the opposite: colleagues praise our idea, and we think we're brilliant. A new friend showers us with praise or tells us we are their best friend. The problem with believing these things is that the reality can be deceptive. People rarely tell us exactly how they feel (indeed, they may not even know themselves how they feel). Enthusiasm can be faked (and often is). And un-enthusiasm doesn't necessarily mean dislike - sometimes people need to process and think through ideas or changes. Instead, we must pay attention and observe changes in our environment, question and investigate its meaning, and keep an open, but cautious stance. Instead of deciding that someone is upset with us or likes our idea, we have to ask questions: "Is it possible they had a bad day or are upset about something else?" Or "Maybe they are just being polite - I'll have to see if they really like my idea." In short, we must be open to being wrong about our assumptions, always willing to change our position given new evidence. This is how we maintain a responsive stance to life, and is what allows us to maintain a sense of calm and peace.
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