There's a lot in common between feudal Japan and modern day Australia.
Well, there's a lot in common with everything. And differences too.
But that's besides the point.
The men with swords, roaming the streets of let's say 15th century Japan.
Bamboo forests, cloudy skies, the wind puffing its chest with its ambidextrous presence.
The people on their phones, roaming the streets of Sydney!
Picturing any place in the world and 'living' it through their screens.
Both experiencing short bursts of dopamine!
Bear with me, there is a point to this.
One from the danger of carrying their swords on the street,
The other, watching shorts or reading posts that make them live a story in their mind.
Both people lack the test of resolve.
For resolve is sharpened through long, droning tests.
The lowly street grunt with a somewhat sharp sword,
Thinking, or rather the lack of, how to intimidate another and not looking inwards.
The school student, who has an exam coming up,
Thinking of how to cheat, how to cram but the similarly, often not looking inwards.
Here we go.
One day, the grunt was drunk and disorderly.
Sunrise was beginning.
He had been intermittently awake all night; a cycle of drunk or being passed out.
The grunt saw two men, with swords drawn, facing each other off.
It seemed like they were standing still, facing each other for hours.
Perhaps it was hours, for the grunt was too drunk or hungover to grasp time.
Then it was midday. Suddenly, one of the men in this duel, dropped.
Blood oozing out from his limp body, facing downwards into the dirt road.
It shocked the grunt and arose him from his drunken state.
Somewhat.
What happened?!
Now readers, the deep test of resolve was the essence of this duel.
Two skilled men, sharpened yet battered by the weight of time.
Both men patiently waiting for a falter in resolve.
Listening, almost for another's heartbeat from a few metres away.
Now, my school students or my fellow students of life.
Let's come back to 2023.
Your phone does many things; from being a knowledge resource to becoming a medium for you to be a 'commander' of millions.
Can you test your resolve by putting your phone away for a whole day?
A day where you can afford to. Even if its just one day of the year.
Tuck it away and dig it back up the day after.
Replace the tasks you usually do with a phone, but with the 'old' way.
This is testing your resolve but in quite an enjoyable way.
Be careful though, don't curse the phone. Don't hate it and throw it the second you don't need it.
If you can do this, perhaps you can test your resolve for a rainier day.
Or maybe you'll find your own way to micro-test your resolve.
Why you should continue the remaining 10km run.
Why you shouldn't call in sick today.
Why you should say the truth, although everything is signalling you not to.
Why you shouldn't be that worse version of you that occasionally just comes out.
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The strange thing with resolve is that if you keep adhering to your resolve and nurturing it, it gives back. You make sacrifices to see through your resolve. Yet it always gives back.
Stimulus points:
Kakugo 覚悟 (One's preparedness to bear any how for their why/what are you prepared to give?)
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. - Friedrich Nietzche
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