Duck Soup For The Soul

Climb The Corporate Ladder, Or Just Stare At It Dreamily Ah yes, the corporate ladder. That mythical structure everyone talks about but few can clearly describe. It supposedly leads to success, money, respect, and maybe a corner office with a view. In reality, for most people, it looks more like a rusty fire escape bolted to a burning building. Still, we gather around it every year, gazing upward, wondering if we should climb… or just admire it from a safe distance. Let’s be honest. The ladder is not evenly spaced. Some people start halfway up because of connections, family names, or being “culture fit” in a meeting where no real work happens. Others are stuck on the ground floor, holding a CV like a begging bowl, told to “prove themselves” indefinitely. Same company, same hours, wildly different gravity. Climbing the ladder also assumes the ladder is stable. Spoiler: it’s not. Restructuring happens. Leadership changes. Suddenly your boss is gone, your role is “re-evaluated...

  The Empty Boat Mindset There’s a short Zen story that goes like this: A man is crossing a river when another boat crashes into his. He immediately gets angry—until he realizes the other boat is empty. No one to blame. No one to shout at. Suddenly, his anger disappears. That moment right there? That’s the Empty Boat Mindset. Most of our stress, resentment, and emotional exhaustion doesn’t come from what happens —it comes from the story we attach to it. We assume intent. We assume disrespect. We assume someone meant to hurt, ignore, or block us. And just like that, our peace sinks. The Empty Boat Mindset asks a simple but powerful question: “What if this wasn’t personal?” What if the rude comment wasn’t about you, but about their bad day? What if the silence wasn’t rejection, but overwhelm? What if the delay wasn’t disrespect, but chaos on the other side you can’t see? When you treat every collision like it came from an empty boat, something shifts. You stop bleeding ene...