Let’s throw in some quotes on occasion:
“The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse.”
― Carlos Castaneda
I’ve talked about this before. So many people of late cast themselves in the narrative as being a victim either of life itself or of others. The others may be ex-husbands, children, employers, white people, males, black people, Muslims, the system, the media, the internet. Books have been written by people justifying their own victimhood. Even more importantly people use their victimization as an excuse for not succeeding.
Whoever spread the rumour that anything in this life comes easily? Oh, I would not make the spurious claim that the game is not rigged and that somethings aren’t inherently easier for some than for others. I have yet to see a case where anything comes without a struggle. I have known no one who has not had challenges. Are some greater than others? Would anyone other than a fool reply in the negative to that?
In the long run though whether or not we overcome these challenges remains up to us. Either we can make it through and achieve our goals or we cannot. If we fail than it is up to us to either get up and try again or move on to another challenge. Am I saying this from a position of privilege? I would say yes to this. In the intersectionality Olympics the cards stacked against me are relatively few. While that may make my life easier, there remains a huge gap between easier and easy.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter why I succeeded or failed, what matters to me is how I faced each challenge that came to me and my willingness to face more tomorrow. When it comes to our own evolution and growth, the contest seldom has to do with others but with ourselves. How did I face the challenges set before me? Did I do my best to overcome them? What did I learn from my success or failure? How can I use that to move on to the next challenge?
There is a huge difference between blaming others for our failure or seeing them as another obstacle or challenge to be overcome. Some obstacles in our path cannot be removed. When that happens we either have to learn to go around them , bypass them in some way, reduce them or perhaps choose a path in which we can find more success.
OK time to put my soapbox away as I seem to have indulged in another rant.
Be Well, Be Strong, Be True, Become.
Comments are appreciated. Also prints for sale. Contact the artist at gary.rambled@gmail.com
Click on images to see full-sized
Dragon Song by GAR
The Veil Parts by GAR
A Gap in the Flow by GAR
