Good Evening All.
As we're about to get vaccinated against COVID, there's a small air of optimism in the air. There's a sense of relief, looking towards the reopening of society as we once knew it, and tossing away (in the most sanitary way possible), these masks.
Despite the discomfort, unfairness, tension, and resentment that this pandemic caused, I like to think that there is a hidden benefit to having endured it.
A popular saying is that, "tough times create strong people, strong people create easy times, easy times create weak people, and weak people create hard times." Nobody likes to be called weak, but this saying is true.
When we face adversity, so long as we do not admit that the adversity is defeating us, we become stronger. That does not mean that winning is the only acceptable solution. If you bring your A game and you still lose, there's no shame in doing so.
Once we get over that hump, it's only natural to create easy times. Why not, we've earned it!
Unfortunately, those who might not have earned those easy times become spoiled by them, having not experienced the previous hard times. That's what keeps the circle going.
So what's to stop us from getting so spoiled?
Just a little bit of understanding and appreciation, maybe. Couple of Stoic exercises couldn't hurt:
(1) Try a cold shower in the morning. It will make you appreciate the hot ones more.
(2) Go camping once a year or so. It will make you appreciate property, possessions, and civilization more.
(3) Travel to areas of your community, and your world, where members of other faiths and stripes live. It will make you appreciate the world at large more.
(4) Shut off these electronic devices once a month. It will make you appreciate humanity as it naturally is more.
(5) Spend time with people you dislike once a year. Not only will it make you strengthen your boundaries, it will also make you appreciate the world that exists outside your opinion even more.
In no way to I suggest that we should torture or abuse ourselves. I am suggesting that we should not spoil or weaken ourselves.
I EXIST. I MATTER. I BELONG. I DESERVE.
RESPECT ALL. BEFRIEND FEW. LOVE ONE. HATE NONE.
MOTHER PROTECT US, FATHER EMBOLDEN US.
DO NOT DEMONIZE, DO NOT DEIFY.
STOICISM AND EMOTIONAL MATURITY.
POINT OF FAULT TRANSFERENCE, POINT OF EVAPORATION.
