It’s something that every single one of us went through at one point or another. The hard-wiring is built deep within us based on our ancestors’ need to survive. Fear of the dark, unknown, bumps in the night, the boogeyman and the like are so natural that I do not blame anyone for that response. Even at the ripe age of 41, I still have that response to some situations. Even though I know that this is to a certain extent instinctual, it is possible to train it out. I no longer check for monsters under my bed at night. The question on my brain tonight is, would it be possible (and advantageous) to not only train the fear out but instill a sense of dominance over the monsters?
The beginning assumption of the child is that they need to be afraid. In the ultimate Chuck Norris reversal, couldn’t the monsters be afraid of us? If they are such badasses, why do they need to skulk in the dark anyway? It’s probably because the sneak attack/sucker punch tactic is their only hope. Flipping the script on a situation like this opens up a new world where the victim becomes the victor. Since most of our world is no longer based on an “only the strong survive” system, a large majority of the shifts that change victims to victors are of mentality and not physicality.
Since there is less to need to fear and the game is mostly mental, perhaps it is time to change the assumptions that we make about ourselves. Each of us has jumped to conclusions about ourselves based on limited or weak data. “I’m not smart enough.” “They’d never take me.” “I’m just really bad at ______.” All of these are assumptions that may not be true or can be flipped. The difference between a weakness and a strength might be as simple as perspective or selection. Being 4 foot 10 inches is a major liability in the NBA but for a horse jockey, it’s an asset. The world that you live in is based largely on perspective.
DON’T ASSUME YOU’RE WEAK, JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T FOUND YOUR STRENGTH YET! The world offers so many opportunities to each and every one of us. The problem is that many of us make assumptions about what those opportunities are supposed to look like. People want opportunity to look like a lottery ticket rather than an unpaid internship. The latter will probably make a stronger and smarter person but the former is sexier, so we ignore. We ignore our strengths or opportunities to become stronger all the time because it’s easier to complain about being weak. Flip the script and attack those monsters under your bed and inside your head. You’ll find that that they’re no match for you when you believe and you act.
Have a great day people!
Pete
Most Chinese restaurants seem to have the same basic decoration. The chairs only seem to vary in the pattern of the vinyl upholstery. The pictures of the food look almost identical up on the menu board. It’s almost as if they are all part of a chain like McDonald’s. Despite the similarities of the furniture, the food is what separates the good from the bad. In the past I know that I’ve gone out of my way to go to the “good” Chinese restaurant. That distinction was never about the decoration or the koi fish swimming in the fake pond with a waterfall. The good restaurant distinguished itself by making better food once it got the furniture in.
The trilogy is not truly the king of cinema but rather stack-able stories. There’s no magical power to the number three. The key component to the greatest movie series is the way that the stories fit together and one movie can be catapulted based on the strengths of its predecessor. While I’m a huge movie fan and have been since my childhood, there is something that’s missing from the great movies that are being released today. Kids aren’t stacking them into their own lives.
The traditional wedding vows read something like this “I, ___, take you, ___, for my lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do we part.” While I have no problem with anyone making this vow (I made it), perhaps some people might want to change it up in order to better represent the signs of the times. Something like the following might be appropriate for some people today.
It was around 1988 when I started making the phone calls. On Friday nights, it was my job to call all of the players/parents from my soccer team. The information that I had to tell them was where the game was and what time the “caravan” was leaving A&P’s parking lot. It wasn’t a fun job but it was a necessary one to make sure that everyone got to the game. Today we have TeamSnap and other services to take care of this job. While I’m sure that my fourteen year old self would have jumped at the chance to have this service available. I’m glad that I suffered through that weekly chore.
I had blood all over me. I didn’t know where I was. It was the coldest that I’d ever been in my life. I couldn’t see a thing. All that I could do was scream. Luckily help was nearby and I was able to calm down. It had been a difficult trial but I was alive and in the hospital. Just when things seemed as if they would be OK, a complete stranger came along and chopped off a quarter of my penis. All of that trauma happened in the first twenty four hours of my life. Despite that very rough beginning, I’ve done quite well for myself.
Bob was a guy that I worked with at the garbage company during my summer vacation from college. He was a driver on one of the recycling trucks. Funny as hell! His stories were legendary and wit was razor sharp. After working for the company for at least 15 years, he could tell you everything that was wrong with it. He knew why the routes didn’t work, how the company had been stupid to buy this new brand of truck and every other problem that the company had. He loved to vent. The problem was that Bob couldn’t prevent. He couldn’t let the bosses know about the challenges before they came up. His ability was after the fact and didn’t carry much value. I’m not sure if Bob retired yet or if he’s still there but wherever he is, I’m sure he’s still venting about something.
Traffic lights are used to help keep us safe and even though we heed them, we tend not to give them much thought. I chose a black and white photo to keep people honest. The yellow is in the middle but which color is on bottom and which is on top? You’ve got a 50/50 chance. Check below……
The story of Superman becomes very boring without Kryptonite. A man who is super strong, fast, invulnerable, can fly and shoots lasers from his eyes is not a compelling story. His abilities make him unbeatable. So defeating evil-doers is not a matter of ability, it’s a matter of time. Without Kryptonite, Superman’s story becomes one of an interplanetary janitor who is here to clean up our biggest societal messes. A completely infallible hero is difficult to sell but exposing his Achilles heel makes him a star.
Don Quixote is a fictional character famous for fighting windmills and doing other absurd things. His basic story is one of taking a fantasy world and trying to imprint it onto the real world. The results are comedic for the outsider but almost tragic for Quixote himself. As I was reading his story in college, I always pictured him sitting Indian style in his armor with a child’s toy box trying to hammer the square peg into the round hole. It is easy to label Don Quixote as a “fool” but personally I identified strongly with the character and his trials. Around the time that I read the book, I was on my own Quixotic adventure that put my mental image of the world into question.
Huryk Unlimited 