The virtue of patience

On the blissfully beautiful Saturday, I went with an out-of-towner friend to visit the Meiji Shrine compound. We decided to get an omikuji. Usually an omikuji is a fortune that tells if you're having a lucky day or not. If not, then you will hang it up on a tree in the shrine compound and the monks will pray for you.

We happened to picked our selection from the poem box, so both Ropeninja and myself got ourselves a little poem that were supposed to have a particular meaning. These poems were composed in the traditional 31 syllable form, by either the Emperor Meiji or the Empress Shoken (his wife).

This is what is said on mine:

"Such is the force of water
That it will with gentle pressure
Shape itself to every vessel
And yet pierce the very rock."

In Japanese:

"Utsuwaniwa shitagai nagara iwaganemo
Tosuwa mizu no chikara narikeri"

-- Emperor Meiji --

Meaning:
Water meekly follows the contours of any vessel it is poured into, yet it can also pierce stone itself. Let your heart too be as patient and as strong.

Let my heart, too, be as patient and as strong as this water. Well said.