Hollow inside, receptive, and humble, it bends with the wind but does not break. Flexible, resourceful, open to new possibilities, people of Tao are strong in any situation. Avoiding pride and rigidity, they adjust to life's changes, harmonizing in their own patterns of growth. Non-Tao people only resist. At death they are hard and stiff.
All green plants are tender and yielding.
At death they are brittle and dry. When hard and rigid, We consort with death. When soft and flexible, We affirm greater life. The most devastating experience many people face is being fired or laid off. A non-Tao person is often destroyed, unable to move forward, to overcome the shame and confusion.