Tuesday, January 31, 2012

i-TFTD #353: Award o'Scar


#353-1. The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure much.
-William Hazlitt, essayist (1778-1830)

#353-2. When mind is WEAK, situation is a PROBLEM.
When mind is BALANCED, situation is a CHALLENGE.
When mind is STRONG, situation becomes OPPORTUNITY.
-Anon

(Thanks to Ambarish Kulkarni for sharing this.)

#353-3. There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with.
-Harry Crews, novelist and playwright (b. 1935)

____
The perspective shift involved in changing a scar from ugly reminder to a symbol of closure and hope requires a plasticity of thought that is different from fickle-mindedness. Rigidity is often confused as a sign of strength but in a fast-changing world with unlimited information, the strongest are those who know how to dynamically balance confidence with openness to opportunity, and how to alternate between input-gathering and synthesis.

Endurance of the inevitable need not be the opposite of enjoyment if one can abstract oneself to a meta level. Endurance also connotes exertion of effort, without which true enjoyment is unattainable.

A scar, then, may be an award for past endurance?

Now sing along with me (same seven syllable structure as the nursery rhyme):

Twinkle, twinkle, little scar
What a sign of hope you are
Strong minds can shift perspective
Simple thoughts to gaily live!

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