Conquer yourself first

For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.  Socrates said that. He didn’t write it, because he didn’t do the writing, Plato did. There actually isn’t any evidence that Socrates, student of Plato did any writing at all (fact of the day). What is truly crazy about this, to me, is that he has to of said that sometime 470 BCE and 399 BCE and this is still true today. That is the beauty of such a statement, it’s timeless. Socrates believed in a philosophy that promoted practical results that would eventually lead to the greater well-being of society.

Some days sitting by idly and waiting for something to materialize sounds amazing. Why not just chill out for a few hours and watch some Dexter, seems legit. But at the same flip of the token, it doesn’t. There is far too much going on in the world and in our own respective lives for us to EVER sit idly by and wait for something to happen. There is always something that we can be doing to make ourselves get out and stay ahead of the curve.

I think that when issues stack up against us and we feel as if we are powerless and have no control over any outcome. I’m here to tell you that that rational will not get you far; in fact it won’t get you anywhere. I have been through life altering experience that have tested my patience, persistence, motivation, dedication, and overall ambition; but when I realized that the only thing I have to do is embrace the change and ride it out, it became all the more beautiful during the process.

When you see storm on the horizon, don’t run from it, run towards it. If you do decide to run toward it, not only will you come out of the situation as a whole as a better person, but you’ll be better for it. You’ll come to realize all of the things that wouldn't have fallen into place had negative situations x,y, and z not occurred. 

All I’m saying is embrace the challenges and changes in life, they make us better. Don’t get down on yourself if it takes longer than you thought, life is a marathon, not a sprint, and in the end it’s only with yourself.

Take some words of wisdom from Socrates and go forth.

~B