“It’s not about abandoning the idea of fear and hope, it’s about understanding that both contain a dangerous amount of worry within” ~ Ryan Holiday
Hope – noun; a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.
Fear – noun; an unpleasant feeling or emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous likely to cause pain or a threat.
The word hope is mostly associated within the light of positivity, the connotation or idea of being hopeful is something inherently good and screams optimism.
A lot of this can be referenced in pop culture.
The first movie from the Star Wars franchise dubbed the epic space opera “A New Hope” after the dictatorship of the galactic empire has taken over the galaxy.
DC comics’ Blue Lantern corps’ whole identity and power source comes from the blue light of Hope, and they’re oath goes like this: In fearful day, in raging night, with strong hearts full, our souls ignite! When all seems lost in the War of Light, look to the stars, for hope burns bright!
Superman’s Letter S in the chest does not really mean Superman, in krypton the symbol of the House of El means Hope.
Fear on the other side is usually viewed with negativity, cowardice, horror and terror, are usually what comes in mind but for some; fear is associated with tyranny and dictatorship.
In contrast to the blue lanterns, the yellow lantern corps uses fear as their source of power, the more fear they create in this world the powerful they become, their oath says: In Blackest day, In Brightest night, beware your fears made into light
Batman although considered by many as a hero was a contrast to superman’s heroic ways of fighting crime in daylight while batman uses darkness and fear as an aid to perform dirty tactics to common crooks.
With that being said, what if I told you that hope and fear are somewhat the same, sure it can be the two sides of the same coin, but hear me out.
Hope can either be good, bad or neither, maybe we should not hope too much, just like fear it is an expectation in the future, something we do not have control over, we fear that something might fail or we hope that something good will happen, but really,
It just robs us of what truly matters, the now.
What are you doing now? It’s as simple as breathing, do you fear that within the next second you’re not capable of inhaling? Or do you hope that in the next two seconds you hit the lottery?
No, you just be, you just exist, there’s, not a lot to think about, isn’t it? Do you even know if you live the next day? You probably do, because you just made plans for tomorrow, but worrying or hoping about something really robs you of today, so just relax and appreciate everything in this moment.
This now takes us to the next point ~ Amor Fati, no amount of fear and hoping can ever predict the future or change the past, so focus on the now and learn to love and embrace fate.
Amor Fati is a Latin phrase and concept introduced by Friedrich Nietzche that translates to: “Love of Fate” or “Love of one’s Fate”
It is an idea that encourages us to embrace everything that happens to our lives whether good or bad and perceive it as a vital part of one’s own journey.
Rather than fighting things that happen or resisting what we cannot change or worse defying change itself, Amor Fati invites us to embrace all of it, to find the real meaning of life through the ever changing and challenging circumstances that we are in.
Rather than wishing away circumstances that come our way, Amor Fati creates an opportunity for us to be tested in times of trials and feel blessed in times of triumphs, so then we can entertain the idea that everyone’s experiences are unique and no cookie cutter path is made for us.
After all of this, always remember that you must die (Memento Mori), no hope, fear or love of fate (Amor Fati) will ever save you from death, in fact it is the only guarantee we have in this world, so why must you worry. What comfort it is to know that all of us will end up the same.
The idea of Memento Mori either creates a concept of relief or sadness,
What we do or have right now might feel important to us, but will all of it matter when we’re gone? It sounds depressing and in conflict with Amor Fati, it’s too far ahead and thinking like that wont change anything,
but
know that death is our end game, so for now lets do what we can the best way that we can, we have a lot of things to do, much more pressing matters that require our attention sooner than worrying about tomorrow or lingering in the past.
Memento Mori, Amor Fati ~ so what’s the point in all of this do we just exist only to die, do we live not hoping or fearing anything?
That isn’t the point, it’s about learning to face whatever life brings us and embracing it as if it was a blessing. Every challenge is positioned before us for a reason, growth.
Instead of worrying or stressing about everything let’s just focus on what truly matters. One’s again, we have much more pressing matters to think about and improve upon, focus on the here and now, overthinking about the future prevents us from fully conquering today.
You own nothing
You must have heard or seen many a times when the author Dan O’Brien said that he doesn’t “own” his several-thousand-acre buffalo ranch in South Dakota, he just lives there while the bank lets him make mortgage payments on it. A perspective few of us see.
Properties, lands, cars, money, jewelry the apartment that you just paid off, nothing, you own none of that.
Why do we try so hard to achieve these things, so we could say we bought it? so we can say we, had it? Why do we hold on to it knowing that in the blink of an eye everything can be taken away from us.
Hollywood is in disarray; California is ablaze all of those properties celebrities own are on fire, and they are supposed to be very influential, far richer and powerful than you and I, the ones who supposedly control the industry, none of them were immune to the laws of nature.
Just for a moment..
why not try to achieve being good or being just or being an honest human, an incredible human being who could say that he has done all he could to be kind and generous. Someone who did his best, to be a good father, mother or human being that he could ever be.
Your Most Valuable investment
“In this world, the only thing we truly own is the body we shape every day.” ~ Ken Kitano
A very stoic statement that highlights a mindset where despite the chaos and uncontrollable forces around us, the one thing we can always control is ourselves, our mind and thoughts.
Everything we have had, all the material possessions we own are just borrowed from the universe we live in. Some religious ideologies might imply that even our bodies are borrowed, however I do not subscribe to that.
“You’ll never go wrong when you choose to invest in yourself”
Investing in yourself is superior than any materialistic pursuits for it cannot be taken away. When things collapse, these are what you rely on.
– Invest in your spirit by being resilient in the face of external chaos or misfortune, when you lose a job, a relationship or experience struggles, know that it will open new opportunities.
– Invest in your mind by being wise, for wisdom recognizes that all of these hardships are temporary and will only make you wiser.
– Invest in your body for health is your number one asset and a strong body will help you carry heavier burdens.
– Be calm and thoughtful, be kind and just, become the best you can be.
Assets and investments such as stocks, money, bonds, properties ~ when markets crash or economies fail these things might all be in jeopardy.
When everything else is failing, which of these investments is fluctuation proof? Which is flexible? Which will never abandon you? ~ your character and virtue.
But in the grand scheme of things, you and I will never be remembered, our grandkids will only be sad for a little while, your properties will be repossessed by the government, we are but a speck in the galaxy, we are not that important. None of this matter.
XERGIUS 