The Challenge
Posted in Blog, Inspiration on 09/23/2008 12:46 am by Cerapter
Don’t fall down into ignorance when there’s something that needs your attention. Doing nothing is also a choice, and sometimes the worst one, but oh, so easy to make.
The world is exactly what we make it into.
Anything we choose to nourish, it will grow.
And anything we choose to neglect, it will wither.
Neglect — and the loss is leads to — is the easiest to accomplish. It requires no hard work, it needs no grand plans and ideals. Do nothing, and withering will come to the world all on its own. Let it stay, and it will set root. Rely on it, and it will grow.
Many are okay with this. We are content with finding shelter for the storm, staying out of sight from the forces that seek to defeat us. I can feel this in myself. Burnt by failure, I am inclined to ignore the challenges I have not yet overcome; exhausted by struggle, I would rather not indulge myself in any more fights— not for ideals, not for others, not even for myself; and alienated by the very corruption that is my nemesis, I lose focus and attachment to any cause. As you might notice. What was I talking about again?
War.
Humanity has reached the stage where the greatest wars and conflicts are inside us, and not among us. With no external hardship to guide our hopes, our ambitions and our dreams, the hardship moves inside and challenges us in a new way. The war becomes abstract, the path unclear. And most of all, prevalence becomes optional. Being on the losing or the winning side makes no difference for our survival.
But this is not about individualism. It is about the challenge to overcome hindrance, the challenge to act when you know you should. Lest neglect will feast on your spirit.
My message is this: do not lose sight of the horizon. Whereas bad things can come from neglect, good things will need both time and effort. Love, for instance, needs to mature under hard work. Art requires an open mind and the application of creativity. Most of the good things in life is a mixture of both, and their success will need both attention and devotion.
Don’t chicken out on life.