A few years ago, I was watching one of those History Channel specials on the people of World War II. You know; the greatest generation.
Four words struck with me, when a journalist was interviewing one of the women from that time and he asked her: “You were a mom and a housewife and suddenly you’re called to duty, to go to work in a factory making bullets. How did you possibly get through it”?
And she said, “We just did it.”
They just did it.
Life isn’t perfect and no one has the perfect life. We’re not fooling anyone and why the hell would we even want to? Sure, everyone bitches, whines, argues, vents, cries, struggles financially, loses, gets hurt, and pissed off, but that’s part of life. However … it’s not life itself. Far too many people have been conditioned to live there, be weak, and wallow in the mire in perpetuity.
It’s toxic weakness and it’s ugly, miserable, and repulsive. It’s a culture in and of itself.
Meanwhile, strength is sexy and I mean that in the most appealing way. Men, women, gay, straight, black, white, plaid … whatever; strength is an internal fortitude that is quiet, but resonates outwardly without any need for marketing and its naturally attractive. Attractive in the way that you want to know this person, be genuine friends with them (or more), and we feel comfortable being around them. No judgement, guilt, triggers, or looking for reasons to be offended.
It’s grit, thick skin, resilience, confidence, toughness, empathy, peace through strength, care, boldness, and being able to laugh at ourselves (and others, because we’re all pretty damn funny and that’s okay). It’s being an authentic human.
Life can be tough at times, sometimes hellish and unbearably inhuman, but we need to get through it and that takes doing. Churchill once said, “When you’re walking through hell, keep walking.”
As we walk that walk, there are the weak who are sitting in the flames, crying with their hand outstretched. But they don’t want you to help them up; they want you to sit there and cry with them.
There is no virtue in weak people choosing to be weak. No virtue in victimhood. There’s no honor in masking insecurities, envy, and jealousy with microaggressions and gaslighting. No value in being easily “triggered”, blaming others, society, or how things should be. There’s no worthiness in seeking external validation or attention through the cheapest of means. No merit in trying to control other people, having to be always right, overanalyzing, and dominating others.
Toxic weakness is creating difficult times and it affects everyone, including the weak. But the strong will keep walking. As it’s been said and maybe paraphrased, “Hard times create hard people. Hard people create soft times. Soft times create soft people. Soft people create hard times.”
In human form, we’re here for a blip. Maybe it’s a test, maybe it’s a gift, maybe it means absolutely nothing. No one knows. No one. In the meantime, let’s be human.
… anyways, thanks for coming; there’s wine and beer in the fridge, The Fixx is playing on the portable speaker, and there’s cornhole and great people out back. Enjoy!
Cheers
I Am No Yogi 