If you're feeling down...
Dear Blog Diary,
“The genius can do anything, but does one thing at a time.” - McConaughey
Flat out, I had really bad week or so. I’m just walking around, being a poopy pants. Start to feel frustrated with aspects of life. Weighs you down. It happens, but there’s always room for perspective and gratitude. The bad times are never as bad as they feel in the moment and in retrospect, we embellish the good times.
I’ll tell you a trick, if you’re ever feeling down or full blown can’t get out of bed because the sadness is crippling. This won’t change a thing, but I promise that you will smile.
In your angriest, most hateful voice, making the most furious, vicious face, say the word….”Bubbles.”
You will smile! You’re going to give a chuckle! You’re welcome. But yeahhhh, you have to at least try to make your life better.
I’ve read the Book of the Five Rings a few times from the iconic samurai, Musashi Miyamoto. It’s one of those like The Art of War by Sun Tzu where there is profound wisdom but must be derived from the context of war. In Musashi’s case, mostly sword fighting. He can be a little long-winded with it.
He gives an entire lesson on fighting multiple opponents at once. The one thing he said that left such an impression on me:
“Waiting is bad.”
The idea being that when many are trying to kill you, draw both swords. The key is to attack one of them in full force, pushing in one direction to temporarily fight 1on1, ideally kill, avoid the others, and then keep moving so that you are not killed yourself. Most importantly though, you do not want them acting collectively as you cannot defend many at one time, but if you can attack one.
It’s wild because most of us do not seek stress or pain. It just happens naturally. And sometimes, when it rains, it pours. To keep your shit together, it’s not easy but you must act. Target one opponent, and attack.
The genius Musashi killed 60+ men in 1on1 duels, but he did it one at a time. And waiting is bad. Face your opponents and don't let them attack collectively. Musashi said, if 1 man can kill 3, then 100 should be able to kill 300. You must be a 1vs3 kind of warrior.
And if all else fails…bubbles.
Best,
E
#ARTiculate