Taoists in the East, Stoics in the West — brothers and sisters in wisdom. Among the last tests of the Samurai was, having learned friendship with water in lake swimming, then tasting the flow in deep, wide streams, was to enter the rapids, allowing the current to carry you around the rocks with perhaps only an occasional light touch to a rock or boulder. Lean to follow the flow, you are safe. Oppose it, you may die. Come to a whirl pool, deep breath and let it take you down. You are spit out at the bottom. Fight it, you drown. Life is a vortex, but not our enemy. It teaches us to discover ourselves.