Weakness

There are many things we as humans don't like to hear, can't is one of them. We hate knowing that for whatever reason we do not have the ability or money or time or whatever else may be necessary to do what we want. But weakness is a fact of life. At some point we all will hit a wall. Does this make us weak people? I would say no. A true man knows his weaknesses and limitations and is not afraid or ashamed of them. He recognizes that this is a simple fact of his humanity. We are not all powerful. We have clear and defined limits. What matters is our desire to push those limits as far as we can. We must learn to respect our weakness. It would be stupid of me to attempt a trans-Saharan marathon in the condition I am now. I would probably end up dead and people would say, "He clearly did not know his own limits."
Our society seems an odd mix of things. On the one hand, we praise those who exceed the normal human limits like the gymnast who contorts his body and wins an Olympic medal. And yet on the other, we regard as stupid all those who attempt and fail to push their limits. We are comfortable with the status quo and so when people we actually personally know attempt to push themselves to the max we become uneasy about ourselves. We wonder how they are able to do that which we feel is impossible or, at the very least, improbable. We only truly find our limits when we press to the limit. We see a wall 10 miles away and know that when we arrive at it we will not be able to surpass it so we simply stop and don't even attempt to get any closer. Our mind says, "What's the point of going these 10 miles just to be stopped by a wall? What a waste of effort!" But I think that if we press on we may just find that the journey is what's important and not the destination. There are many things I may dislike about my job but, when it comes down to it, I will be eternally grateful for all the experiences and friends it has given me. Life is about the journey. It is a journey filled with difficulties and pain. There is some joy in life but there is mostly pain. It's simply a matter of knowing that no matter how hard and tedious and difficult life is, those moments of joy are worth it. The day you or I decide that those few and oftentimes far between moments of joy are NOT worth it is the day that life is no longer worth it. So, in short, have a hunger for life. Seek out those moments when you fully push the limits. There is no greater feeling than knowing that, at the end of the day, you gave your all, I guarantee that. This is another way to be a better man.
Peace