Tag: weakness

Blogpost, self-reliance

Don’t Assume You’re Weak…

Pete Huryk

As children we have a sense of misplaced optimism, we believe that we can do anything. Unfortunately as we grow, that overblown optimism is not tempered into realism. Usually it is downgraded into a form of protective pessimism. Either we overtly believe that we “can’t” do things or avoid trying the new and difficult due to judgement. The court of public opinion has a reputation for being harsh against people who are less than perfect.

This pessimistic viewpoint leads to adolescents and teenagers who believe that they can’t. Whether it is a lack of skill, nerve, smarts, money or anything else; falling short is not something to be endured. My message is very straightforward and clear.

Don’t assume that you’re weak just because you haven’t found your strength yet. The safe path of anonymity holds no prizes at its end. Every single one of us had dreams of being an astronaut, cowboy, movie star or a million other things. Some dreams deserve to die, no doubt. It shouldn’t be the ones that we wanted but were too afraid to breath life into them.

Don’t assume you’re weak, just because you haven’t found your strength yet!

Most likely it’s not too late! Pound on the chest of that dream! Blow air into its lungs! Get out the AED paddles and clear everyone away! Every moment that you delay, the less chance that you’ll have to revive it. Unfortunately you can’t expect a miraculous recovery, it will take time and persistence. You might be breathing life into this thing for years. Or you can let it die a quiet death because you labeled yourself too weak to save it.

You can do it or you can’t! More than anything that’s up to you!

Pete

Blogpost, self-reliance

Don’t Assume That You’re Weak…

Pete Huryk

IMG_4454You are the ancestor of survivors!  Cavemen and women who braved the bitter cold, extreme heat and dangerous predators just to continue the species.  Their successors improved hunting and developed farming in order to make survival more probable.  Eventually they were succeeded by people who developed technological advances that gave us every advantage and the ability to bend many of the laws of nature to our will.  This is your lineage!

Despite that fact, you feel weak, uninspired, defeated or out of control.  For so long our species had one objective: stay alive.  Now that survival is less of a concern, we seem to have forgotten how to live.  The words “successors” and “succeeded” were used intentionally because they illustrate a point that has been lost in the shuffle of the demands of modern life.  Success is now an arbitrary term that people often conflate with money, possessions or other status symbols.  It was originally about passing something on to those who would come after.

So don’t balk at the opportunity that you have.  You are the descendant of people who were brave, resilient and strong.  They left us every advantage and that has tricked us largely into believing that we are weak that we are nothing without them.  That we can’t handle the cold or the heat or the difficult or uncertain.  DON’T ASSUME THAT YOU’RE WEAK, JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T FOUND YOUR STRENGTH YET!  Inside of your very DNA is the stuff that made survivors.  Now it is your turn to do whatever you can with the time that you have.  Your strengths, the things that you were meant to do are out there, waiting for you.  Your belief in them and your ability to find them will beckon them eventually but first you must act!  You must do things that take you outside of your comfort zone.  Test the limits to see where your strengths lie!

Go get some!

Pete

Uncategorized

Attack the Monsters!

Pete Huryk

monstersIt’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