A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
~ Robert Heinlein
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Everything is harder, or rather, I should say everything is more complex. The result is that I learn how to tolerate stress, both mental and physical, and how to adapt to make something work despite the fact that the environment is not cooperating. I deal with it or fail. When I’m out there, it doesn’t matter that I can deadlift 3x my bodyweight on a bar, because that doesn’t change the fact that a rock is completely off-balance and seems to be actively trying to roll onto my toes. And that doesn’t change the fact that I’m picking it up and carrying it up the mountain anyway.
That is the definition of tough.
~ Brett McKay from, You May Be Strong . . . But Are You Tough?
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A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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Relaxation alone—even a specialized form of it—is not aikidō, however. If this internal power is a foundational skill—one largely abandoned today—the techniques of aikidō are its delivery system. Even with remarkable power, without a delivery system, one is no more able to fight than a power lifter is able to win in a boxing ring, just because he can bench press six hundred pounds.
~ Ellis Amdur from, «http://www.guillaumeerard.com/aikido/articles/it-aint-necessarily-so-rendez-vous-with-adventure»
Aikidoka: We talk a lot about Tohei Sensei, but how much time have you spent actually reading about him?
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Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. When I believe I can, I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn’t have it in the beginning.
~ Mohandas Gandhi
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Clearly, there is a moral principle at work in the actions of the leakers, whistle-blowers and hacktivists and those who support them. I would also argue that that moral principle has been clearly articulated, and it may just save us from a dystopian future.
~ Peter Ludlow from, The Banality of Systemic Evil
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…and I would argue that four, (number of examples he presents) is not a number which can be reasonably extrapolated to describe “the millennial generation.” The millenials I know are currently the “me” generation. Currently, meaning that for NOW, they’re focused on themselves. They are not going to buy into the national health care rigamarole, they are not going to buy life insurance, they are not going to carefully lay out their course with a moral compass.
Just like me, (and the members of my generation) when we were the age the millenials are currently. Also see: Generations.
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My maternal grandmother, Rose Shumbata.
Oct 11, 1914 – May 18, 2010 (…thats 95!)
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No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself.
~ Seneca
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