kingjoshi
King
It's not something that can be learned for absorbed shortly. And different people have different ways of arriving to their own peace.Gelion said:
I had been battling depression but I don't think it was clinical depression. Upset by setbacks, I lost all discipline in my research. I wasn't progressing, didn't know what I wanted to do with life, etc. And all this only made things worse as I thought about it and couldn't really get myself to focus.
So I decided to cut loose from it. I dropped the thesis aspect of my Masters and decided to take a course to graduate. I started to take classes/do activities I've started before but never stuck with. Salsa dancing, weight lifting, tae kwon do, etc. Basically, I was balancing learning things I wanted to do, hanging out with friends, playing sports, etc and finishing my Masters degree.
However, the major contribution to all of it was the Tae Kwon Do course at Michigan State and the instructor there. Every class was both physical and philosophical. The main concept that I walked away with is, "embracing failure." For someone who was a perfectionist, it's very liberating once you accomplish it.
We strived for failure in the class. Your goal may be 25 push-ups, and mine 30. But if we get close to reaching our goal, we bump it some more. White belts, green belts, 1st degree black belts, 5 degree black belts, we all were learning. He would ask us to do something which was difficult, but easy for some others. But then he'd ask them to do something else which was extremely difficult for them. We're always progressing. We fail and we get better. We set higher goals and fail again and we get getter and process repeats. Regardless, it's the acceptance of it. And moreso, the embracing of the philosophy in other areas of life.
I used to think about how humans (and each individual) can always progress but never reach certain goals. When learning limits in Calculus, that concept was easy to comprehend. But it's another level when you accept and embrace reality.
I had always been afraid to fail. That was something that was holding me back. Whether it's in regards to asking a girl out or whatever. I liked the comfort in doing things I was good at and challenging myself to excel in them. However, embracing failure throughout my life made dancing fun. Made cooking enjoyable. A very liberating process.
The misery and suffering in the world is always something that I've thought about. I've always been philosophical and looked up to Buddha. I wanted to help the world like he did. I believed I could do it. After reading Condorcet's The Progress of the Human Mind I took to heart what he wrote at the end. That as philosophers, we can take solace in the fact that there is such progress in humanity. That despite the constant struggles, people have and continue to learn and it has spread.
Despite the hatred that fuels some people, despite the violence that continues to inflict us, despite some people's willful ignorance, I became at peace with myself, others and our limitations. Because embracing failue allowed me to accept that I might not be as great as Buddha or Gandhi. And embrace the challenges of seeing what I can do. I can still help others and they'll help me and we'll share our failures together as we learn. And we'll improve and share our joys.
(not a joke I really will)
, and helping other people. To me, inner peace is impossible. I don't believe that crap about "accepting what I can't change", because if there is something completely wrong, I'm going to change it, and won't rest til it is changed. So I guess being angry and wanting bad things happen to idiots is my inner peace, in a way, or at least the path there.
