Do something hard everyday. No matter how insurmountable that difficult thing seems, tackle it, war against it, wrestle with it. In grappling with something substantial and demanding, you find that there lies within you a hero. Dormant and latent and docile though it may be, there it is, a hero. And you will need that hero, because as the Buddhist axiom goes, life is suffering. And only the hero is capable of transcending such suffering. Only the hero, who embodies the raging flame, can illuminate the darkness and thaw the icy bitterness.
Such a hero can only be discovered amidst difficulty.For when times are good; in times of plenty, prosperity, and abundance, those traits which comprise a hero — valiance, virtue, and strength — are not asked of you. Therefore the hero cannot be summoned. In times of suffering however, you are urged to find the hero. For if you do not, you risk your demise, and the demise of the world.
In acquainting yourself with that hero regularly and consistently; everyday, that hero is activated and actualised. Incrementally, it transforms from something crude, idle, and undeveloped, into something great.
But fear not, for difficult things are not oft mighty. Indeed, often it is those things which seem trivial, meagre, and insignificant that are most crucial. Because the small but habitual endeavours you embark upon accumulate to comprise your day, and ultimately, your life. What small difficult endeavours do I speak of? Waking up when your alarm clock rings, as opposed to pressing snooze a hundred times. Or perhaps cleaning your chaotic and filthy room. Or maybe eating clean and working out instead of binge watching netflix all day whilst devouring junk food.
The image is a depiction of Sisyphus, who in Greek mythology was punished by Hades, the god of the underworld, for attempting to cheat death. He was doomed for eternity to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down every time it neared the peak. But what Hades knew not when punishing Sisyphus was that positive emotion (biologically, the release of dopamine and serotonin) is evoked not in the attainment of the goal, but in pursuit of it. In other words it is not the rolling of the boulder to the summit of the hill, but rather the action of rolling the boulder up the hill, which renders us satisfied. Daunting though it is to walk the heroic path, it is most fulfilling.
Wow