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Thank you!!!
Many thanks to Box of Crayons for sharing this thought today:
"For myself, losing is not coming in second.
It’s getting out of the water knowing you could have done better.
For myself, I’ve won every race I’ve been in."
~ Ian “Thorpedo” Thorpe
How is your race going? Are you winning or losing? Can you do better?
Tired of the heckler inside your head telling you what you cannot do or be?
Seth Godin has the answer here -- The Heckler.
Bottom line: Just acknowledge the heckler and move on. Do the work. Do your work.
Duty calls on all of us to do many things--for God, for our families, for our local communities, for our friends.
On the other hand, Duty calls on some to serve as warriors, who voluntarily enter into contracts that contain an unlimited liability clause. These contracts literally call on the warriors to offer not just their time, effort, and expertise, but also their mental and physical health, limbs, eyesight, hearing, and in many cases, their lives.
Relatively few citizens answer duty's call to serve as warriors, and that's fine. There are many ways in which we can serve others. Those who respond to the call value concepts like duty, honor, and courage. They believe in God given rights to freedom, liberty, and justice, and they--and their families--are willing to make great sacrifices to protect these rights for those who've not answered the call.
This warrior class has been with us since just after man was first put on Earth, and in most societies, warriors have been honored for their service and sacrifice. In the United States, we have two holidays set aside to honor military service -- Veterans Day and Memorial Day.
In ancient Athens, the city set aside one day a year to honor those who had given their lives in battle. Steven Pressfield discusses the events of one of those special memorial days in another of his always excellent articles, Pericles' Funeral Oration, which he published just this morning. Pressfield tells us,
"Once a year in ancient Athens, the city came together to honor her sons who had fallen in battle. 'The bones,' wrote Thucydides, 'are laid in the public burial place, which is in the most beautiful quarter outside the city walls. [Then] a man chosen by the city for his intellectual gifts and for his general reputation makes an appropriate speech in praise of the dead.
"In 431 B.C., that duty fell to Pericles."
Pressfield goes on to share a few sections of Pericles' moving speech. In his speech, Pericles describes a nation state that sounds a lot like ours--a constitutional democracy wherein the power rested with the people, who followed the laws of the land and granted authority and rendered obedience to certain rulers. The people were able to enjoy many of the blessings that come with liberty and prosperity, and they were protected by a class of warriors that were worthy of admiration and honor, just as we are today. Of these warriors, Pericles said,
"This, then, is the kind of city for which these men, who could not bear the thought of losing her, nobly fought and nobly died … To me it seems that the consummation which has overtaken these men shows us the meaning of manliness in its first revelation and in its final proof. Some of them, no doubt, had their faults; but what we ought to remember first is their gallant conduct against the enemy in defense of their native land. They have blotted out evil with good, and done more service to the commonwealth than they ever did harm in their private lives … As for success or failure, they left that in the doubtful hands of Hope, and when the reality of battle was before their faces, they put their trust in their own selves. In the fighting, they thought it more honorable to stand their ground and suffer death than to give in and save their lives. So they fled from the reproaches of men, abiding with life and limb the brunt of battle; and, in a small moment of time, the climax of their lives, a culmination of glory, not of fear, were swept away from us."
Pericles has much more to say about Athens' fallen heroes. Read more at Steven Pressfield's site -- Pericles' Funeral Oration -- or the entire account in Thucydides' The History of the Peloponnesian War
Now, go thank a warrior.
Happy Friday, All!
I follow a great blog called Indexed, which has a very simple premise . "Published weekday mornings as the coffee brews," the author's approach to a wide variety of topics is to present her thoughts using simple diagrams she's drawn on index cards. It's a wonderful idea and I'm jealous for not thinking of it first. Such is creativity, though, right?
Anyway, all jealousy aside, the post this morning was perfectly suited for those who aspire to leadership. Among the greatest materials in the foundation for leaders is the ability to have a mind that is open to reason and able to change.
We may not always like the source of the information, whether it be from an unlikable individual, an unpopular publication, or any other less desirable source, but it is still important to have an open mind.
With that in mind, here's the index card from Indexed, as published today. Something to think about...
