Samurais don’t run in the rain

Everyone’s on board and ready, but we’re still sitting at the gate at Auckland airport.

The clock ticks past departure time. I hear some passengers grumbling, ringing the call button and shouting to the cabin crew.

The captain then announces, ‘Apologies for the delay. A passenger was running to get to the aircraft and tripped and hurt himself. Ground staff are attending to him and medical help is on the way. His luggage is also being offloaded’.

I could feel a wave of empathy sweep the packed aircraft. I’m sure many people thought, ‘That could have been me’.

While waiting for the plane to depart, I remembered what my mentor Peter Cook often says: ‘Samurais don’t run in the rain.’

Samurais in Japan operate from a deep place of calm. Even when it’s raining, they calmly choose to stride through the rain instead of dodging and ducking among eaves and messing with umbrellas. What a powerful image.

For me, the rain is a metaphor for life, with all its busyness, meetings, overflowing boxes, multiple projects, pressing deadlines, and demands of work and life. In our busy, time-poor lives, it’s always raining.

Every day, you make choices. Do you walk through the rain still with a sense of purpose, achievement and urgency? Or do you run, living right on the edge of chaos, never knowing when that chaos might swallow you?

I know I certainly have days when I feel I am running in the rain. This is when I perhaps serve my clients and myself least.

But on days when I walk in the rain, I not only do my best work, but I achieve more, serve my clients better, and am a better person to be around—more relaxed and funnier (even if I say so myself!).

So next time it starts raining, ask yourself: Will you rush through or embrace it and stride with purpose?

As for me, I will try to channel those Japanese Samurais more.