Words Must Become Flesh
"He who writes in blood and aphorisms does not want to be read, he wants to be learned by heart."
"Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own BLOOD."
Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
We learn, we practice, eventually we know and if we are disciplined that knowledge shows in our character. Character is expressed through action.
Common athletes all share the habit of only doing what they know how to do well, only what is certain to succeed, occasionally attempting the thing that is slightly challenging. They may progress in this way, taking baby steps, but genuine evolution and improvement remain elusive.
When ego comes into the gym lies and fakery walk in with it. When dependency on external validation matters more than actual, difficult change no growth ever occurs. When ego attends a training session the athlete always settles for less as long as s/he looks good doing it — but no one can look good and improve at the same time.
To improve, first take an unsentimental inventory of your capacities and accept yourself as you are. Once you can admit that you are not who you wish to become you may begin to work on the many weaknesses that have surely presented themselves.
To learn and grow you must be willing to fail. When you are willing to fail you are willing to know the truth. When willing to fail you are free to make any effort with no dependency on the outcome. Whether in the mountains, in the gym or in one's relationships the chronic need to succeed prevents growth and the acquisition of knowledge.
The value of failure is in our willingness to accept it: to learn we must be prepared to fail. To stand on the precipice, prepared to jump takes courage but being willing to fail takes the greater strength. To say, "I don't know" and seek the answer requires less fortitude than to admit that, "I am wrong and I will do what ever it takes to change." I believe the greatest value lies in breaking free of the influences, the influencers, the external pressure to appear like this or that, like the arbitrary definition of success because once freed of those constraints anything may be possible. And that is real freedom.
Our pretty words and pretty, filtered images are transparent so we see through ourselves when we look in the mirror if all we are is make-believe. To reflect ourselves back to ourselves we must turn words into flesh, make deeds of our beliefs. When we quit pretending we may indeed write an autobiography in blood.
Tim Steinfort