You haven't been hurt? Well, for one thing,
your character has been hurt! And that mysterious thing
inside you, known as your subconscious, has been predis-
posed to bending with each blow, to giving way to each
force, even to lying down in the hope that danger will
pass over you to seek out someone else.
And that first time you gave way in the face
of life's storm, you judged yourself, and sealed the verdict
deep inside you-that you were a coward. Then the next
time and the next, you knew which way you would lean.
The same way always: away from danger.
This leaning away, this allowing yourself to
bend with each passing stonn of life-what does it matter?
Can you not stand straight again when the danger is past?
Well, not exactly straight, because, you see, your character
will be bent.
This results in more than just a sense of inner
insecurity, of anxious anticipation of the next storm to lean
away from. It brands you. Then everyone will know which
way you will lean in danger. It will show in your eyes-
and in your attitudes. Yes, people will know and judge
and respond to how you will lean.
A Chinese sage of long ago said wisely, "Every-
body pushes a falling fence".
And so they do. In derision, I suppose, because
the falling fence leans away from whatever pushed it.
Ready to lean some more whenever it is pushed again.
Like some people!
Those who have watched a herd of animals
can easily tell the leader. Animals can sense impending