Fighting a Force You Cannot Defeat

(Friday Filosophy 6/16/23)

Happy Freakin’ Friday!

Welcome to another issue of Friday Filosophy, my weekly postcard to you with a question, topic, or challenge to contemplate.  This week let’s talk about what to do when you're facing a force so powerful that it cannot be beat and can't even be controlled.

By this I don’t mean you're a small retailer fighting against Amazon, or you're Marianne Williamson running against the political machine.  In scenarios like these, there's always the possibility of using jiu-jitsu type approaches, making the incumbent's perceived strengths against them.  (In fact, most behemoths started out as tiny, outgunned challengers.) I'm talking about forces so powerful, no human on earth can defeat. Like volcanos, hurricanes, and earthquakes.  Or…

Like grief.

I've lost enough loved ones to know that no matter how hard I fight against it, grief will remain undefeated.  I can try to manage it, compartmentalize it, or suppress it, but it will always prevail – on its own schedule and own terms.  When faced with such a adversary, the only recourse is to stop trying to manage or defeat it.  Have the humility to accept that this is a force that cannot be conquered.  Submit that round and resolve to transform your setback into a comeback.  And take solace in the fact that there is another force just as powerful as grief. And that force is love.

Peace,

- RG

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