Have been obsessing about this phrase today:
‘The wise find joy in water; the benevolent find joy in mountains. The wise are active; the benevolent are still. The wise are joyful; the benevolent are long lived”.
Confucius, The Analects, Book VI, line 23.
As a young man, I used to love the sea. The wind, the sands, its smells, its sounds, the sight of the sky merging with it. That has changed.
Now as I enter my 40s, I have found refuge in the mountains, the view from the top, the crisp air, the different tones of blue when above, and especially the effort required to go up one of them.
I would not change a day hiking and peaking a mountain for a day at the beach.
I was much more proud, caustic, emotional when I was younger. Now I am certainly more calm, grateful, and satisfied.
In any case, I hope Confucius was right about the long-lived part. To be here is both a privilege, an honor, and an incredible adventure.
And you, are you mountain or are you sea?
