pliability
In the recent past I was walking along, thinking about the concept of flexibility, and how people are always saying that we need to be flexible and go with the flow, and things like that. That’s all well and good, but I want to be pliable as well. What’s the difference?
Simple. pliability means we keep the change we’ve made, instead of just bending temporarily but not really changing. Life sometimes demands that we change - flexibility doesn’t imply the ability to change and stay changed, it’s usually assumed that things are often temporary conditions. Don’t get me wrong, at times being flexible is a good thing, but other times we need to be pliable too. When life changes and demands that we change too, I’d rather be pliable than flexible, I’d rather make that adjustment and hold it.
In reality, pliability and flexibility overlap. Pliable materials are often flexible. Flexible materials are often pliable. But they are not the same. Take potter’s clay, as a classic example. When its pliability is greatest, it’s flexibility is at its lowest. The opposite is true too - when it is most flexible, it is not very pliable because it is so thin it can’t hold the shape.
So to take this entry to its rather predictable conclusion, our lives are much like potter’s clay - we can be flexible, or we can be pliable. The trick is finding the balance, and knowing when to be which.