Daily blog #60

Endure

One of my favorite quotes from Marcus Aurelius is “If it is endureable, then endure it. Stop complaining.” Life is full of struggle, even for the wealthiest man, and no one can truly feel another’s pain. It is important to avoid assumptions in this regard but rather to exercise understanding. One thing we do know is that mankind is capable of tolerating the most uncomfortable of conditions and living a full and happy life following. This is found in survivors of the Holocaust or the Vietnam war, who not just learned to tolerate the most extreme of circumstances but gleaned perspectives that would make our worst day seem like a walk in the park. These real life superheroes teach us that as long as you live there is reason to have hope that better times are ahead. If things are as bad as they can get then they can only get better, like a cool breeze that hits your face on a hot day sometimes that’s all the relief you need to keep working under the scorching sun. One of the first tenets of Jiu Jitsu is to become “uncomfortable being uncomfortable” through this principle can you begin to master the art of survival. The same idea applies when you are getting your face smashed by an unrelenting opponent as it can when everything in life is crashing down. The best thing we can do is give our best to endure knowing that one day it too shall pass.