Many people are under the impression that great champions are somehow fearless or without weakness. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. They are simply inspired by the aspects of fear and weakness that terrify others. It is possible with work to develop the capability to use fear and perceived weakness, that is transform it rather than reinforce it.
When you read the biographies of fighters such as Mike Tyson, Tyson Fury, as well as many other successes in and out the ring, it may be surprising to learn that these characters seem to possess abnormal tendencies towards weakness. They have been floored on several occasions despite their great achievements. This should only be surprising if we lack understanding of success. If an individual has more instinctive passions and anger to confront and channel, they have much more frequent opportunity to work on themselves and transfer this energy into useful products. This struggle really is the greatest asset you can have, provided you manage the situation correctly. Trust the power of your instincts but not the immediate expressions of them.
Many people instead take the opposite path. They assume that their base instincts are the final product and let these torment them. Eventually, they exhaust themselves with endless problems and wallow in self pity. They think this is their fixed personality which must somehow be bad. What a negative way to look at ourselves as deadwood. In a sense this is correct. But this lower instinctive aspect of ourselves is actually the source of the higher refined aspect. Our higher cognitive brain must be careful to translate these instinctive thoughts and feelings day and night into constructive interpretations of our choosing. The higher faculties not only have the power to evolve this material, but also the responsibility to the integrity of our system. There is no quick fix solution. Both the higher and lower centres are polar opposites but are part of the same overall whole and are therefore inseparable.
Our instincts and energies are like raw materials which should be fashioned into great achievements of one kind or another. They do not really care what the expression is, so the more unreachable the long term goal the better to ensure a continuous momentum upwards. Grand achievements of any kind are not possible without raw materials, which are like soil to the growing tree. Many people debate which martial art is the most effective but this is really unimportant. Many skilled fighters and eminent individuals have mastered their discipline and crushed their competitors only to be beaten by the enemy within. The external enemies are not at all dangerous compared to the internal battles, which are made all the more deadly because people fail to even recognize them.
People often chose to pursue pleasure, amusement, and material gain under the assumption that the more of these things they have the happier and more motivated they will become. This is a deadly mistake, even if it is universal. All these excesses serve to undermine our motivational states that keep us alive, healthy and competitive, by pacifying them. You are of course free to do as you please and disagree that this is bad, but in my view this is a fundamental law of nature. Recent scientific discoveries have found that adversity switches on certain defence systems within the body which enhance health, lifespan, and motivation1.
Our instincts and energy represent extremely powerful forces which must be mastered and controlled, enslaved even. Otherwise, without wise direction they consume us. When it comes to the external elements or electricity for example, we understand this idea well. Humans used to live in fear of these forces of nature until they gained control over them for the benefit of the species. In my opinion, we should therefore accept that the same must be done with our internal forces, and it wont be any less challenging and it must be achieved through relentless will power.
Our instinctive drives ensure that we continually struggle for improvement and never rest on our laurels. They torment us if we don’t make use of them. This ensures our continual evolution. This is nature arranging things to make us work, rather than according to how we like. The moment we take out eye off the ball when we are overconfident the seeds of destruction are often sown. If this state reflects who you are your mindset should recognise this fact by symbolising relentless drive forwards. There are many champions of one sort or another who have fallen to pieces at a crucial moment or even lost all motivation seemingly out of nowhere. Many people throughout history have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams only to find emptiness and sorrow waiting for them. Or they have simply become bored and lost their edge. There physical capabilities meant nothing at this point. The so called good things had the effect of being bad and ruining them. Why is this?
We are generally quite keen to do all sorts of work to please other people, but we often neglect work on ourselves. But this is by far the most important work there is to do in my opinion. We have come a long way in terms of physical advancement. Rather than making things easy for us, this situation affords us time to work on ourselves at a more advanced level than ever before. Our work has only just begun in the 21st century.
References
1 See David Sinclair: Lifespan – Why we age and why we don’t have to.
3 thoughts on “Strength of Weakness”