The Taoist teacher Chuang Tzu often used stories to present important ideas. Here is one of these stories.
A praying mantis was standing in the road when a chariot came along. The insect thought he could stop the chariot by waving it away. But the charioteer did not even see the mantis, and it was crushed.
The Taoist lesson is that it is important to know when you can affect events and when you can’t.
Write about a time when you stepped in front of a “charging chariot.” When did you think you could affect something when you were actually powerless?