In the "Hagakure: A code to the way of samurai", an old writting by Tsunetomo Yamamoto in which most of the common principles of the bushido became portrayed through a sequence of brief stories and reflections, there is an outstanding example about openness to experience in warriors philosophy that can be used as an excellent narrative resource in acceptance and commitment therapy:
“There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you will still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything".
Avoidance of experience is perfectly described in the previous vicissitude, as we read before, subject gets merely condemned and overwhelmed by ones own attempts to escape from rain drops, however, by the end all those efforts become meaningless since either running or walking, water does not dissapear, and neither does the soaking of ones clothes. Being open to experience, on the other hand, leaves a steady, fordward and flexible path to be followed once we commit ourselves to walk it honestly. It's not that we force ourselves to be joyful or grateful about rain, or whatever sort of unpleasant stimuli related to our analogy, but struggling with the fact that rain drops will come —and go, nearly as fast as the former— imprison us inside psychological struggle. Naming those "I loathe raindrops" stories menacing to guide our actions away from a willing response-ability regarding direction over our footsteps would be often sufficient to make room for our observing selves.
Another japanese man in a more recent time, Kentaro Miura, wrote for his aclamated manga series "berserk" that "the gods grant a destiny to man, but the choice to accept it remains in the hands of man", and that also reflects on our exampled situation, involving here not merely pouring but a form of conceptualized sense of presence defined as destiny. Whether we choose to verbalize it as rain or destiny the question remains the same: are we willing to accept what life carries with it, being open and aware of the fact that liquid will eventually dry? or do we prefer to stay unwilling, closed and reluctant to the notes of our experience?