Sometimes the best preparation and the best odds are beaten. Not by a vengeful god, not by a villain, not always even by a better opponent, not by anything other than the way the events transpired. Winning everything, getting everything we want whenever we want it does not the path to happiness make. Never knowing an obstacle is knowing the straightest path to misery.
Category: self-reflection
War Ensemble
Every moment is a fight/flight or play dead choice. The wording, intensity and severity will differ: perhaps it’s love/hate or apathy – like/dislike or whatever. In all cases, one doesn’t have time to ponder to the depths of one’s own intelligence or ignorance before deciding. Looking at the world today, it would seem the most intelligent and the most ignorant are aligned in choosing the negative and the indifferent as guiding principles. Love is a fight response. Acceptance is a fight response. Kindness is a fight response. Compassion is a fight response. These are a war ensemble.
Learning Attenuation
The truth of learning is not to know more, but rather learn more about what’s truly important and doing right by those things. Clarity is acting with intention only after we’ve successfully cleared away the clutter. The more we know, the simpler life should be; not the reverse.
The Plague of Popularity
We tend to do least of what we know we should do most: Sleep, exercise, read, love, learn, be. Instead we tend to work, worry, wallow, blame, binge and chill. We are what we do and what’s popular to do is not what’s best for anyone, especially ourselves.
For Jobs, In Life
Hire the person – not the resume. The resume may earn someone the interview, but it’s up to the interviewer to discern the character of the person in front of them. Same goes for life. Don’t be impressed by anything other than the behavior. Behavior patterns sum up character more than any prior achievement or accomplishment.
Teachable Moments
You are standing at a picket fence watching an event unfold. A child walks up to you that is too short to see what’s transpiring. At first, you begin to describe what you see. After some commentary, you decide to put the child on your shoulders so they can see too. A week later, almost like deja vu, the same thing happens again. This goes on for several weeks. At what point does the child learn to a bring box to stand on?
Dwelling or Preparation
Knowing when to make a move is knowing when the game is lost. When you are able to see both sides of the game, you’ll never lose, for you’ve no longer given any more thought than necessary to the loss in front of you because you’re too busy moving forward. The only way to lose is to overthink what’s already been lost. That’s not preparation – that’s dwelling.
