The Superhero

"Number One: Resilient people get that [terrible disasters do happen],
they know that suffering is part of life, this doesn't mean they actually
welcome it [...] just that when the tough times come they seem to know
that suffering is part of every human existence and knowing this stops you
from feeling discriminated against when the tough times come."

"Number Two: Resilient people are really good at choosing carefully where
they select their attention. They have a habit of realistically appraising
situations, and typically managing to focus on the things that they can
change, and somehow accept the things that they can't."

"Make an intentional deliberate ongoing effort to tune in to what's good in
your world."

"Number Three: Resilient people ask themselves "Is what I'm doing helping
or harming me?" this is a question that's used a lot in good therapy."

"Is what I'm doing helping or harming me?"

Please note that monitoring where each of your steps is taking you, whether
it is good or bad for you, will help you navigate life and improve your
decision making.

Quo Vadis? My friends.

Dan Millman, wrote a book in which he featured him self as a character,
next to the imaginary wise man Socrates, Soc for short. Dan is someone who
quite literally pulled him self up by his own shoe laces.

Here is Way of the Peaceful Warrior Audiobook narrated by the man
himself. It was also made into a movie starring Nick Nolte as Soc.

There is a similar theme in No retreat No surrender, where the boy calls
upon Sensei Lee, to come an teach him.

By whatever means necessary, risky, or imaginary, we have to keep going
forward, up, up, and away, and all the way up, until we become the beings
that we once thought the adults already were.

Reaching out for wisdom, standing in relentless pursuit of excellence is
not optional. Without growing up we will become weak or ill, and face those
circles again.

Dan Millman, teaches us to take out the trash, to erase doubt, negativity,
fear, keep moving forward and become Vulnerable and Fearless Warriors.

A warrior is not about perfection. Or invulnerability. He is about absolute
vulnerability. That’s the only true courage.

The mighty Brené Brown further elucidates on the subject of vulnerability
through what in my opinion is a two part TED talk: The power of
vulnerability, and part two Listening to Shame.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong
man stumbles,

or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,

whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;

who strives valiantly; who errs,

who comes short again and again,

because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;

but who does actually strive to do the deeds;

who knows great enthusiasms,

the great devotions;

who spends himself in a worthy cause;

who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,

and who at the worst,

if he fails,

at least fails while daring greatly,

so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who
neither know victory nor defeat.

Put on the Superhero Suit and step into the arena, right now. Being ashamed
to dance, or waiting until you are perfect to face your next challenge, are
just illusions that are holding you back.

You are each to become a Great Being. The world needs Superheroes.

Be it fixing schools, or erasing borders, or just preventing Anthropocene
from becoming an extinction event it will take a Great Being to be
heard, Greta Thunberg is a wonderful example, today.

Erica Goldson carries on her message and self-education, aiming to inspire
and help the world grow. She discovered the absence of teachers early on,
and immediately became an educator her self.

Don’t be scared to save the world. Mind is a Reflex Organ, Soc says, and he
is right. We must be in charge of ourselves. We have to take out the trash.
And, at night, when everything comes at you and wakes you up at 3:13am when
you are not ready to fight back, you can always turn on an Audiobook by
Bill Bryson, Carl Sagan, or the lovely Sarah Vowell. Night by night, the
culture of great beings will add to your culture. On the shoulders of
giants also means that come your Golden Age, there will be little heroes
checking if you have risen high enough for them to stand on your shoulders.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

A Walk in the Woods, Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

I’m a Stranger Here Myself, Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away

The Demon-Haunted World, Science as a Candle in the Dark

Assassination Vacation

Never give up, whatever your calling, never retreat, never surrender. And
in the absence of teachers, you become the teacher. Sure, maybe anything
that can go wrong will go wrong but that’s just the next challenge,
your next level up. An opportunity to stand even taller.

Come morning, it does not matter how old you are, or how many times you
failed already, the rest of your life is always ahead of you. Make the
rest of your life, the best of your life.