Skip to main content

Thoughtful Thursday - Radicalization

wp-1459130110087.jpg

The enemy wants you in a reactive state. They want you to spend so much time putting out fires that you can't focus. They want you arguing within your group. The more divided you are, the more power they have.

This is an old battle tactic.

Musashi himself used it to anger his opponent. An angry opponent lashes out at the wrong things. The wrong people. Anger causes one to make mistakes. In battle, Musashi never let an opponent see his emotions. He won his first duel at the age of 13 because he was underestimated. His most famous duel, he rudely didn't show up until 4 hours late. In truth, he was nearby watching as his opponent grew increasingly angry. He brought his enemy to the edge of snapping then swiftly eliminated him.

Below is just a snippet from a larger documentary. The full thing is fascinating if you have time to watch it.

Musashi wasn't a wealthy samurai. He didn't spend a lot of time exchanging pleasantries. Many accounts make him seem like an asshole. After defeating the best of the best, he had a bit of an existential crisis and took a break from fighting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCKwwwvz2WI

Calm and calculated is what we can learn from Musashi. Strategy. There has been a lot of reaction going on. We need to be in position that is proactive to win. The things they do are designed to make us emotional. Designed to wear us down.

The people always have more power than they realize. It isn't men like him who run things. What if the water was cut off to his buildings? The electricity? A situation created where sewage backed up all over his golden palace?

There is one of him and many of you.

Only when you are calm inside can you see all the options in front of you. When your emotions run rampant, your ability to think, reason, stay healthy, etc is diminished. This helps your enemy.

Find your calm. That is where your true power is. That is what they are truly afraid of.

Ciao,
R~

Note: I don't have a source for the above image. If someone wants to let me know who made it, I'll gladly give credit.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Gauntlet That Was October

I had a lot of things happen in October. I watched Frankenstein in the cemetery with friends. I had tea with a friend. I started a new sport: curling. This is really fun and I'm enjoying the level of activity it provides and all the strategic elements. I'll do a separate post on it soon. Unfortunately, soon after my first game, I came down with Covid and so did the friend who I had tea with, so I think we both caught it at the place we went to. That wasn't fun. I already posted about that. I was fortunate to be free of it in time to attend Can-Con where I took in lots of panels, saw some of the wonderful writer community, bought many new books, and volunteered to help out in the rooms. The following weekend, I went to the livestream for Danielle Allard's new album release, followed by the in person release. As part of this, she has a 6 video series that releases every Sunday on her YouTube at 1:15 PM EDT. Video number 2, Falling Into Place, is one that I feel fortunate
Post a Comment
Read more

2023 - Week 40

I felt a touch rough on Monday. After exchanging some shoes, I needed electrolytes. The heat with the egg thing made me a bit nauseus. I had lots of fluids before having noodles for dinner. That made me feel better. When Tuesday came about, I was looking forward to what I might be learning at GSL curling in the evening. I was also excited to being on the ice as a break from the unseasonal heat. It's spooky season! It's supposed to be a cool and cuddly time. We should be wearing hoodies (or bunny hugs if you prefer). Instead, I was sweating in jeans as I simply walked from my condo building to my car. Wednesday's plan was streaming, but I also hoped to fit an exchange at Home Depot in as I got the wrong shelf size for a project. Really, my original plan for something didn't work, so I was choosing to go a different way. I did stream, but I didn't get to Home Depot. Thursday featured work followed by packing for my spooky weekend away with friends. I got my oil and my
Post a Comment
Read more

The PWHL

I've gotten my season tickets for the inaugural season of the Professional Women's Hockey League. I had put my deposit down as soon as it was open. Am I a hockey superfan? No. I enjoy hockey. I started watching it quite a lot during my divorce. I also used to practice my slapshot against the foundation of our house when I was an angst-filled teen. I care about women in sport having amazing opportunities like this. Anyway, some people in the comments section on the posts are truly something. The league posted the schedule, which was more of a calendar without time blocks listed. They happened to post that on the day that priority purchasing was opened for the season tickets.  So then there are a bunch of people who didn't put deposits down that were complaining they can't buy tickets yet. Makes total sense 😒 And then there were a bunch of other people complaining that nothing has been announced on the streaming and televisation of the games. Some were even suggesting th
Post a Comment
Read more