Your heroe(s), if alive, will let you down. Whether by fault of your expectations being impossibly high for any human to be held accountable for, or the person you hold in such high regard letting you down by doing what humans do best:
screwing up.
Guard yourself; recognize the fallability of the human condition and steel yourself against the inevitable downfall of those whom you hold in the highest esteem, for
TO ERR IS HUMAN...
I have actively searched for the 'Achilles Heel' in Jordan Peterson's YouTube videos, his guest appearances on podcasts, and most recently, his latest book:
The reason for my search is consequential of my growing respect for this man, and cautioning myself against whatever disappointment may lie there in wait, somewhere in the future...
I've yet to find anything that would serve to betray his intellectual honesty and passion for truth regarding the human condition.
A friend and I are going to see his book tour lecture tonight at the Minneapolis State Theater; I look forward to sharing the experience, exclusively on Steemit, in the coming days.
More key quotes from his book that offered value:
PAGE 350
Regarding a family illness:
"Set aside some time to talk and to think about the illness or other crisis and how it should be managed every day.
Do not talk or think about it otherwise."
PAGE 355
"We're all in the dark, after all, much of the time."
How true...
PAGE 361
"What shall I do with the world?
Conduct myself as if Being is more valuable than Non-Being."
Act so that you are not made bitter and corrupt by the tragedy of existence.
PAGE 367
"To suffer terribly and know yourself as the cause: that is Hell. And once in Hell it is very easy to curse Being itself. And no wonder. But it's not justifiable. And that's why the King of the Damned is a poor judge of Being."
You may feel as I do about that last quote; where the first line is brilliantly put, while the last line does not close the thought with the same power of the first (italics by the book's author, not mine).
Regardless, the message carries significant weight. When life is wonderful, then consciousness, existing, Being is worth the cost of the knowledge that personal tragedy is just around the corner, and always will be.
But it's not here now, hence the exhilaration of experiencing life.
When calamity strikes, in whatever form, the desire for existence wanes... Occasionally to the point of self-destruction as so prevalently displayed by the record-high suicide rate and opioid abuse afflicting North America (to speak nothing of the abuse of alcohol).
The use of those measures (opioids, alcohol, and suicide) all serve the same purpose: To minimize, or extinguish, our experience of life.
Recognizing the Faustian Bargain that we must contend with the pain of being alive to occasionally enjoy the beauty of conscious existence; that is the responsibility we have to ourselves.
If we can recognize that WE are responsible for lifting ourselves from that place of pain, whether by embracing the additional pain of changing our habits, denying ourselves from short term pleasures which sow the seeds for long term pain, and seeking professional psychological help should those measures fail, it is up to US to practice that self care to bring us to a better place than where we already are.
Again,
PAGE 367
"To suffer terribly and know yourself as the cause: that is Hell. And once in Hell it is very easy to curse Being itself. And no wonder. But it's not justifiable. And that's why the King of the Damned is a poor judge of Being."
Thank you for reading.
This book is afforded my highest praise for the breadth of knowledge contained within its covers.
I encourage you to read it yourself, particularly if you have received any measure of value from my 7 recent posts about it:
