Hope
Because there’s enormous stress and upset out there in the land and among my friends, I thought I’d share the video below, after saying a few words in relation to it.
I first encountered the Stockdale Paradox, which this addresses, 15 years ago when I read Good to Great by Jim Collins, and it has informed my life, along with the two great philosophical works that for me are close to religion: The Enchiridion of Epictetus and the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. The latter two counsel you to take control of your own life and not suffer the slings and arrows of others; the former advises planning. Voltaire said (and I’m paraphrasing) that Man is essentially optimistic because he goes to bed making plans for the next day — that in that assumption of continuance we are hopeful. (Camus said much the same thing in “The Myth of Sisyphus.”) And so I would say to you that making plans for your success is the first step in that success, and in providing balm for your wounds.
So, in the spirit of wanting to provide counsel to so many good people here who feel worry and anxiety, I’m sharing the video below. We are all here together on planet Earth, and we should all do what we can for each other.
April 20th, 2020 at 5:15 am
He makes his points well — as do you — and I learned a thing or two in the last five minutes.
Having said that, I must ask: Does he deliberately dress like the sidekick in a B Western?
April 21st, 2020 at 8:46 pm
The primary lesson here is unspoken: never wear those suspenders with that shirt.