The Careless Rower

On a cold foggy morning, I was out in the lake to row my boat. It was a brand new boat and I am taking it out for the first time. I was very proud of it. I put on my rowing gear and jumped into the boat with excitement. There were other rowers in the lake moving in a zig-zag. I should be careful. It is very foggy. I could hardly see anything that is more than a few feet away. There are many people are sleepy in the morning and I do not want anyone to collide with my new dinghy and leaving any scratch on it. I very carefully began to maneuver into the lake. “Thumph!’. A loud noise came from the front. My boat was shaken such that I was almost thrown into the water. When I regain my balance I realized that my boat has collided with another boat. I could clearly see a big dent on the front left side. My precious boat is damaged before I could even take it into the lake. I was furious.  Who was the imbecile rowing the other boat?  I let out some loud expletives targeting the other rower. Jumped out to teach him a thing or two.

I waddle through the knee depth water to the other boat and started shouting at the other person. At first, I had a hard time seeing the face of the person in the boat due to fog. I got even angrier due to a lack of response. I went close to get a clear view. That is when I realized that it was an empty boat! I collided with a boat that had not a rower. I stood there, staring at my damaged boat. My anger is taken over by a sense of helplessness and disappointment.

The question is why the absence of a human being in that boat changed my attitude. What happened to my anger? The difference is that, when I realized that it was an empty boat, there is suddenly no one to blame for the situation other than myself. I am the one who is responsible for what happened. I have to deal with it myself. The obstacle is the path. No other way.

It is a Zen story I heard recently. I found it interesting. Many of our problems will lose their edge once we take responsibility for our part in it. And the funny thing is that in most situations if we care to dig deeper, we will be able to reach a situation, where we have to take a certain amount of responsibility.