> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.gilespcroft.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Ripples on the pond - URL: https://www.gilespcroft.com/ripples-on-the-pond/ - Published: 2026-10-11T06:00:29.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-11T06:00:28.000Z - Description: A metaphor to help you face life's many challenges 💧 - Author: Giles P Croft - Tags: Metaphor, Acceptance, Identity, MECHANICS, Meditation, Presence, Psychology, Resilience, Stress, Sunday Spiritual, Wisdom Every now and again when I'm working with a client, I'll share a helpful metaphor with them, then afterwards go to message them with the Daily Reminder I've written about it and discover—to my amazement—that I've never *actually* written about it! 😳 This one is possibly the best metaphor for the mind and for who-we-really-are that I've come across. --- Imagine a pond. It's still. Calm. Deep. The surface is smooth as glass. Tranquility manifest. > **This is You. Your essential being. Who-you-really-are.** Then someone (something) comes along and lobs a stone in there. What happens? That's right – there are ripples. Ripples are natural. They're the expected response to something impacting on the surface of that water. The water receives the object and greets it dynamically. With ripples. The normally still surface is upset. And then? The ripples die down, of course. On their own. It's a self-correcting system, always in motion. You wouldn't wade out there with an iron to try and flatten them out, because you know full well – that would create *more* ripples. The stone meets the water. The water responds. The water returns to its natural state: stillness. It's beautiful to observe. --- We will face so many challenges in our lives. We do not get to choose them. Every stone that is thrown into our pond is circumstance meeting our essential being. Our history, our conditioning, our insecurities, our *ego*—with its judgements and its labels and its desires and preferences—create ripples. Our humanness receives the situation and greets it dynamically. With ripples of thought. We become upset. And then? The ripples die down. On their own. It's a self-correcting system, always in motion. Perspective is regained. Wisdom reveals itself. Suffering abates. Solutions arise. But only *if* we avoid the temptation to ‘wade out there’, creating *more* ripples by trying to think away the situation, figure it out, analyse it, rack our brains, ruminate, second guess and a dozen other synonyms for actively thinking about something. --- Crucially, the water isn't changed by the object. It's just responding to it, dynamically. Likewise, who-you-really-are cannot be damaged or altered by the situations throwing stones into the stillness of your being. There are ripples of thought. They're not wrong, or bad, and they will die down, all on their own. The beauty is in observing at a distance, and leaving them be. 💗 Giles SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY REMINDERS newsletter [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/2025/12/DR_Lockup-Black-1.png)](#/portal/signup) Want to start **your* days with helpful, insightful content like this? The Daily Reminder is a quick, lighthearted email that arrives in your inbox, to help keep you grounded in reality, so that you get to **‘Think less, and live more.’* **“They feel like a moment of stillness in a world of madness.” \~* Neil, UK **“One of those small things with big impact. Honestly, just sign up!”* \~ Paula, UK [GET YOURS NOW ](#/portal/signup) ### Related [Contaminated thinkingWhat does a contaminant actually \*do\* to the substance it’s contaminating? And what are the implications for us? 🔬![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/icon/DR_Lockup-Black-3-703d71b1-f73d-413c-99ca-3eb872a2487c.png)The Daily RemindersGiles P Croft![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/f3/9bf3d316-7d32-494b-814f-a7d94d6358c3/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1565562591245-00f5d7c4bf57-906553fa-3bfd-48f3-8ddb-f8f479817496.jpg)](https://www.gilespcroft.com/contaminated-thinking/) More water-based metaphor fun.