It’s common nowadays to have a training plan to make us better and more clever and more fitter.
So, we started at the beginning and we plan the weeks and we accept the pain and discomfort that comes with working harder to learn something new or to tear muscle fibres to get bigger biceps or to be able to run faster for longer.
This has become an accepted part of life in our society while at the same time embracing uncomfortable sensations and feelings has become unacceptable.
It’s now not acceptable in any way to feel sad or for anyone you know to feel sad (either for a reason or for no reason).
It’s not ok to be scared and it’s not ok to be uncomfortable about what someone says or how they look at you or how they speak to you.
I think we’re missing the point here in such a massive way.
Resilience and bravery and strength and empathy and vision all come from the uncomfortable position.
In order to be brave we must first be scared because you can’t just be brave from a neutral position where you’re not bothered.
In order to have empathy we must understand what it feels like to be sad or scared or hurt or damaged so that we can be genuinely concerned about the feelings that the person has.
In order to have vision we must first walk through the darkness of not knowing where we’re going and realise that we’re deciding where we want to go.
If you thought your life was about putting on a onesie and ordering your food through a delivery app while you watch another boxset and that would demonstrate success and progress then, you were entirely wrong.
That would mean that your ability to be brave or strong or empathic or envisioned would diminish and you would become less and less a part of society and less and less useful to that society that you work in.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” definitely works up to a point.
They used to call it character building and now they seem to call it unacceptable.
I think that’s a mistake.
Blog Post Number - 2938
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