Some thoughts from the field…
Here’s another video from last year’s deer hunt. This is my 2013 trophy mule deer (superbuck) on public land. Neck shot at 20 yards with a compound bow.
Note: When I approach the downed deer, an elk bugles; when I get up again, the elk bugles again. Amazing!
In the past two years I’ve had the unique opportunity to teach hundreds of people basic archery. Because of the nature of the organization which I’m affiliated with, many of my first time students are left-wing oriented, if not out-right liberals and even anti-hunters. Although this hasn’t been a problem, I’ve had quite a few impassioned conversations concerning the morality of hunting.
As it turns out, many anti-hunters are regular meat-eaters. In conversations about the ethic of hunting, the very first point I make is: “If you eat meat then you are directly responsible for the killing of hundreds of animals. You just have someone else just does the killing. I prefer to take that responsibility into my own hands.” This almost always brings the “offended” into the realm of reality and diffuses any potential negative redneck argument.
Learning the art of archery doesn’t mean you’re suddenly expected to go hunting. It’s just a fun skill to have. But I have to wonder, what drives a flaming anti-hunter to pick up a bow-and-arrow in the first place? In my studies I have learned that almost every culture around the world has used the bow and weapon as their primary source of food and protections for thousands of years. The reason—I think—that so many people from so many diverse backgrounds are inclined to pick up a bow-and-arrow is because it’s already deeply ingrained in their bodies, minds, and instincts. In fact, one in ten of my students becomes masterful at archery within five minutes of shooting, as if they’ve been shooting their entire life, but having never picked up a bow before.
Many first-time archers view bows and arrows as recreational toys. Often times, if I didn’t insist on teaching safety first, people would just grab a bow and start flinging arrows. Consequently, at the beginning of every session I stress the importance of safety. One of the very first sentences out of my mouth is, “The bow-and-arrow was designed for one thing and one thing only—killing!” At this proclamation you can see the slight discomfort in a few faces, but it never deters a person from shooting.
At the same time, I never push hunting on anyone; I won’t even bring it up unless someone asks—but someone always asks. Without getting too much into it, I explain how bowhunting has always been my greatest passion, how it provides the majority of meat that my family and I eat, and that shooting a bow-and-arrow proficiently has nothing to do with hunting well.
Many people from the big city have a skewed view of hunting. They are conditioned to believe that killing an animal is as easy as pulling off the side of the road and shooting some helpless creature to death. And so I go on to explain that hunting is a completely separate skill from shooting, and the hunting aspect requires a lifetime to master.
In the end, I don’t want to kill anything; I don’t glory in shooting some poor creature to death in cold blood. But I don’t want to starve to death either. Nor do I want to wander down the meat aisle at the supermarket and sift through a pile of carefully packaged, hormone-infused, mass-produced, inorganic farm-garbage-salmonella-burgers. What I prefer to eat is purely organic, super-lean, free-range, healthy meat that walks the earth freely as God intended. NOW, I digress.
Overall my arguments for hunting have been met with surprising respect, even from those who “agree to disagree.” Even more, the relationships I’ve developed with many anti-hunters have been mutually beneficial. I’ve been forced to honestly and deeply consider the ethical and spiritual nature of the sport I love so much, and at the same time I’ve witnessed a change in the hearts and minds of those who were previously misinformed about the evils of hunting.
Is deer hunting more art or science? What a great question!
A year ago I had an interesting conversation with a non-hunter about art and science and how it relates to hunting. Now, this non-hunter has a friend who loves hunting more than anything, but his results over the years have been very poor. The hunter is not only a scientist by profession, but a scientist in just about every other facet of life. Almost everything he does is calculated and planned out, with little left to chance. In other words, he’s an extreme left-brain oriented person.
In contrast, I’m a real right-brain oriented person. I’m an artist not only by profession, but in most other ways as well. So, my only common ground with the scientist is our love for hunting. This got me thinking.
If you aren’t familiar with the difference between left and right brains, maybe this comparison will help:
Characteristics of left-brainers:
In contrast, here are some characteristics of right-brainers:
Ideally, a person is perfectly balanced between the two, meaning the two halves of their brain work together rather than one dominating the other. Most people are balanced somewhere between the two extremes, but some people aren’t. Being extreme one way or the other is actually dangerous because it means we are close-minded and prone to mistakes, or even mental disorders.
How does being left- or right-brained affect hunting success?
When a person bags a giant buck, the scientist will immediately begin assessing the facts surrounding the event. Where, when, and how did this hunter come to arrow such a great trophy? If the scientist can just answer these simple questions, then a formula can be assigned and implemented in the future, right?
But in real-life, hunting doesn’t always work that way. For instance, what if the hunter just wandered into a section of unknown woods on a hunch and stumbled into a big buck. Miraculously, the buck didn’t notice the hunter who immediately sent an arrow sailing perfectly through its heart. End of story for the average hunter, but a great mystery for the scientist. None of the scientist’s questions are answered, and so there can be only one possible explanation: sheer, lethal luck. And the scientist knows that absolutely nothing can be learned from luck, so all the data must be dismissed. Could it be that the scientist is asking the wrong questions?
In contrast, the artist views hunting as art. Yeah, there might be a little science thrown in, such as knowledge of deer behavior and the physics of his bow, but the true artist-hunter glides fearlessly along a path of infinite variables and gut feelings. He might begin the day with a basic plan or direction in mind, but he almost immediately veers away from preconceptions and ends up in mysterious places he hadn’t considered before. The scientist may do this occasionally, but the unknown is usually avoided. Scientists tend to stick with the plan at all costs.
As an artist, I’m probably a little biased. I see the purely scientific approach to hunting as a triple threat to success. The first problem is over-planning. The scientist has probably stared at a map for so long that he just knows where the deer will be based on a number of physical factors. Now nothing can lead him away from his plan. The second problem is over-packing. He is aware that the woods are full of infinite challenges, variables, and dangers, so he overfills his pack. This in turn slows him down and makes him noisier. The third problem is ignoring intuition. The scientist is still prone to intuition and a heightened sense of awareness just like every other hunter, however he is less likely to respond to mysterious forces like hunches, intuition, premonitions, gut feelings, etc. This narrows his vision by ignoring the gentle prodding’s of Nature.
Game over. The results are in and the winner is…
The Artist.
But scientists don’t despair. Anyone can change. The first step to becoming more artistic in hunting is to admit you’re a left-brainer. This can be a challenge since left-brained people don’t always see the value of using the right brain, particularly when it comes to hunting. At this point you need to take an honest assessment of your hunting success. Has all your planning paid off? Could there be more to hunting than sheer science and numbers?
For you left-brainers out there I urge you to read back over my previous blog-posts entitled Zen in Hunting: Part 1, 2, 3. The left-brainer might scoff at such mystical forces as Zen, but I feel like it’s the top contributor to my hunting success. I believe there are forces beyond our comprehension that want us to succeed and are willing to help us, if only we keep an open mind. Gather the data, formulate a hypothesis, and then let go and let Nature be your guide. Go with the flow.
That’s what Zen bowhunting is all about.
By now you probably have a pretty good understand of what Zen is. But how does a person go about achieving Zen enlightenment? What is the process?
Students in traditional Eastern Zen often spend many years in painstaking study to achieve Zen enlightenment. Since most of us don’t have the wherewithal to travel to Japan for formal study, my aim is to guide you through the basic process. The following steps show how to achieve Zen through archery.
Is that it? Did I miss something? Like I said from the start, Zen isn’t something to be explained, but experienced. Practical Zen doesn’t always require you to go through a specific ritual or meditation. These are just guidelines to help you learn the process.
Zen is actually more common than you might think. In fact, I am certain that just about everyone has experienced Zen at one time or another. Have you ever hears someone say, “Man, I’m really in the zone today?” What they mean is, they’re really in the Zen today. For some unknown reason you just feel unconquerable, like you can do anything. The problem is that it’s fleeting; we can’t repeat it. Why?
Most of the time we don’t reflect back on what factors led up to that fleeting moment of enlightenment. Other times we call it luck; and since luck can’t be repeated, it’s dismissed.
The goal of Zen enlightenment is to summon those powers at will and use them to your benefit. The famous virtuoso guitarist Steve Vai explained it like this (and I paraphrase): Every once in a while a person latches onto a fleeting moment of inspiration. For some mysterious reason he can suddenly play beyond his normal abilities—beyond anything he’s ever experienced. But then, a moment later it’s gone. Vai goes on to explain that his unwieldy virtuosity is the result of learning how to hold onto that moment—to summon it at will. Incidentally, Vai is an adamant student of Eastern philosophies. He is speaking specifically of Zen.
Zen isn’t a religion per se, nor does it conflict with any religion. It is simply a heightened state of being and awareness. It brings clarity through meditation and focus.
At its peak, Zen enlightenment channels energy so that God can work through you. In other words, you are able to achieve great feats because you’ve removed yourself as a stumbling block to the great flow of energy. As the late, great Zen-master Alan Watts once wrote, “What the culture of Zen proposes is that one might become the kind of person who, without intending it, is a source of marvelous accidents.”
Best of all, Zen is universally available to everyone. It’s your birthright. It comes with the gift of consciousness. Personally, I’m only at the beginning of Zen understanding. But lately I find myself making more frequent, conscious, ritualistic efforts to channel those forces. I can also recognize when it happens and hold onto it longer.
What I’m attempting to do here is share this understanding with you. Through Zen practices one can achieve greater success in whatever aspects of life he wishes to pursue.
Trying to explain Zen to people has been difficult, not just for me, but for all Zen teachers, even the Japanese Zen-masters themselves. Reason being, the meaning of Zen is not something you can just tell someone, but rather something that must experienced.
In Western culture we expect things to be tangible and definable. But in Eastern culture some aren’t explained with words, but through experiences. If you were to ask a Zen-master to explain Zen, he’d likely turn his back on you. Zen is a sacred art, and not something to be handed out like candy. Its power is beyond mere words, even beyond the teacher’s full range of understanding. It is also something that should be earned through hard work, humility, and sacrifice.
If you haven’t read the epic novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, you should probably be deported. It’s an important and powerful Western perspective of Zen. It also predicts the downfall of Western civilization via our own greed and self-centered worldly perspective. He goes on to explain that the Western business model will increasingly dictate our values in the near future. The fallacy of the Western business model is this: If a thing or idea cannot be quantified, monetized, or assigned a tangible value, then it must be dismissed. Why do you think society hates religion now more than ever before?
Like it or not, this bias is the driving force behind all decisions regarding Western business, values, morality, emotions, decisions, relationships, the stock market, the government, etc. Have you ever noticed that every elected official is a living pile of crap, and the “good guy” politician always loses and no one knows why? He loses because his truth and his goodness can’t be quantified. The dirt bag politician, on the other hand, wins because he tells so many lies, and lies are data which can be added up and quantified. So he wins by numbers. But I digress.
Pirsig was a great prognosticator. He understood that the Western business model would inevitably lead to our destruction. He foresaw it very clearly, but felt so helpless in preventing it that it drove him certifiably insane.
What proved Pirsig’s theory was simple: The word QUALITY is indefinable in Western culture. Everyone he asked seemed to have only some vague idea of what Quality is, but they couldn’t really define it. That’s because Quality can’t be defined. Quality can’t stand on its own. Quality is only useful for comparing two objects. For example, this toothbrush is better than that toothbrush, so this one is a quality toothbrush.
Quality is very similar to Zen insomuch as it’s something to be experienced, not explained. You know when you have a quality experience–like shooting a giant buck or watching your son being born–but trying to explain why it’s a quality experience is impossible without comparing it to something lesser. And since it can’t be defined, it’s often discarded by our culture. Now, more than ever, it’s easy to see what Pirsig predicted 40 years ago is coming true: quantity over quality in all things. Don’t believe me? Just look at Walmart!
Before we continue, I want to make it clear that I am not a Zen-master; not even close! I’m only a traveler along the Great Path. I only happened upon Zen because of the meditative rituals that I experienced while hunting. At the same time, I believe that the purpose of life is to follow the one true path, and that is the path leading to enlightenment. If I have any understanding of Zen, it’s only because I’ve traveled farther along the path than most. And if this is true, then I can help others.
Are you seeking Zen in your life, or are other forces (dogmas, hope, ignorance, etc.) guiding you? Can the ancient art of Zen really be used for hunting? Is God and Zen really the same thing? These are all questions that I ponder every day and hope to answer in future posts.
As of now, we’ve only scratched the surface. For the final piece of the puzzle, see…
You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you…me…the tree…the rock…everywhere! – Yoda
Where do you think the idea for ‘the Force’ came from? When you first saw Star Wars as a kid, you knew it was fiction, but didn’t you also feel some connection with the concept of the Force? Could there be some validity to the existence of a Force? Did you ever point to an object and command it to you? The idea of the force–in many ways–parallels the very real concept of the Zen force.
For me, the concept of this magical force makes up a three-part triangle: 1) The fictional/fantasy/magic force that exists in movies and our imagination, 2) the religious force that uses the power of God to “move mountains;” something we learned from our parents, church, or society, and 3) the Eastern Zen Buddhism force (or just Zen) that is understood and used mostly in the East, but exists universally everywhere.
In this article I’m writing strictly about the Zen-force and how it can be used for practical things like archery and hunting.
For more than a decade I’ve been researching and implementing Zen into my life in practical ways. Specifically I discovered a Zen-force via hunting and my deep connection with nature. Today, I continue to use the Zen-force to achieve greatness in archery, bowhunting, and almost anything else I do.
For all intents and purposes, Zen is similar to religion, but also far from it. Zen is not in conflict with any religion; it is simply a higher level of conscious awareness.
To give you a better understanding of Zen, think of it as a natural force that flows through all things…just like Yoda said. Then, think of life, or “the miracle of life,” and the life energy or spirit that exists in all living things. Aside from religious texts, no one really knows what life is or where it came from. We just accept that we’re alive and go about our business. But we must never forget that life is both a miracle and a mystery, no matter what dogma says about it.
What we do know about life is that everything is made up of energy. And yet again, no one knows what energy is; we only know some basic properties of it. For instance, we know that energy is conductive and it’s constantly moving or flowing. The idea of Zen is that we can align ourselves in a way that we connect with the infinite source of energy and conduct more energy through ourselves than we could otherwise. In this way we can do incredible things. For example, we can attract other energy to us.
This is all theoretic of course, but so is life, so let’s move on.
Have you ever noticed that Yoda looks like an old Japanese Zen master? Do you think it’s a coincidence? Zen Buddhism originated in China in the 6th century A.D. and was later adopted, perfected, and practiced in for centuries in Japan. Zen is continually taught through various meditational methods including swordsmanship, calligraphy, dancing, and even flower arrangement. And surprise, surprise, one of the most revered Zen disciplines is archery. But what is Zen exactly, and what does it have to do with archery?
In 2002 I had a major paradigm shift. A few days after harvesting an impressive trophy deer, I had a sudden realization that my success came neither from my hunting skills nor from luck. I seemed as though some mysterious force was guiding me toward success. Years later, when I learned about Zen, I was amazed at how perfectly it coincided with my unorthodox hunting meditations and practices.
For today, think of Zen as a oneness with the Universe. Oneness comes from humility. Zen can only be achieved through humility. Humility comes from realizing you are infinitesimally small relative to the infinite universe. You are not an ocean, but a single drop in a vast ocean. The ocean you are part of is unfathomably large and powerful. Your little life might seem important, but it’s really just a tiny part of an infinite universe.
And that’s where Zen comes in. What if you could take your tiny, insignificant life and harness the infinite power of the universe. There’s nothing you couldn’t accomplish. Zen simply provides the key to unlocking that immense power.
On a final note, Zen is far easier to achieve in Nature because there are so few distractions. Zen is associated with meditation because meditation is a practice of quieting the mind. In my early years of hunting, I couldn’t quiet my mind. I spent the days frantically flailing around the woods looking for a deer to shoot before I ran out of time. Consequently, I achieved little success.
In later years I spent more afield and hunted alone. I also spent more time just sitting and breathing. I noticed after about three or four days my mind would quiet down to the point of total awareness. There was no future or past. This state of being is sometimes referred to as the infinite now. Time is meaningless. Desire melts away. It was in these moments that I achieved wonderful success in the woods.
Nowadays, my spirit enters the woods long before my physical body. My physical body is here, working, driving around, answering calls, etc., but I’m just going through the motions. In reality, I’m already gone. My energies are focused on the impending bowhunt. I am living in a continual state of meditation and mental preparation; I am preparing the way for Zen in hunting.
This topic is further discussed in part 2 of this three-part series:
Enlarge your consciousness. If your consciousness is small, you will experience smallness in every department of your life. –Robert Pante
I always wanted to find an arrowhead. I always felt a great romanticism in stumbling across an ancient bowhunting artifact that paralleled my own plight as a modern hunter. Well, in 2013 it finally happened. On opening morning I headed out across a steep ridgeline on my annual quest for deer. I laid my bow on the ground and pulled up my binoculars to view the new surroundings. When I reached down to pick my bow up, I noticed a small, shiny, black object lying right next to my bow. My heart leapt! For a second I imagined an ancient hunter following his instincts—just as I had that morning—and walking the same path that I was on. It was a wonderful, serendipitous moment.
Big bucks are like arrowheads. What I mean is, you might hunt for years and years without seeing a truly giant buck. But given enough experience, inevitably you’ll stumble across one. Still yet, it may take several more years before you actually get an arrow in one. But if you persist in strengthening your skills and keeping an open mind, one day you’ll wrap your hands around some trophy antlers. After that, it won’t feel impossible anymore, but inevitable. It’s all about enlarging your consciousness.
Two weeks after finding my first arrowhead, I found a second one. I was hunting an entirely different section of the unit, and after setting up camp I hiked to a nearby stream for some water. Just before I got there, my eyes locked onto another black, shiny object. This arrowhead was even bigger and more perfect than the first one. I’m not sure it was entirely coincidence.
Bigger bucks are like bigger arrowheads. It might take many years to finally bag a big buck, but once you do, they come easier. That was also the case in 2013 when I found two arrowheads and bagged the biggest buck of my life, dubbed Superbuck. The story I wrote for that deer was based entirely on building greater success off of previous success.
Entrepreneurs frequently tell a similar story: It took them years and years to earn their first million dollars, but only a short time and a lot less effort to earn their second million. As it turns out, success has more to do with our state of mind than anything else.
So, what does it mean to “enlarge one’s consciousness? When I first read this quote, I asked myself the same thing. Was I infinitely UN-successful in my finances, relationships, hunting, etc., because my vision of life was too small? Was I limited by my physical brain capacity to have a small consciousness? Was I limited by negative influences during my formative years? Yes, I think so. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me from having success in bowhunting. What I needed to do was enlarge my consciousness beyond the old-fashioned style of hunting that mostly leads to failure. So I struggled, studied, and fought against mediocrity, and after years of doing my own thing, I was finally a trophy hunter reborn.
When I set my annual goal to harvest a trophy deer, I envision a real monster buck with huge mass and a wide, sweeping set of antlers. I am conscious of the fact that there are at least one of these stud-bucks in every general unit in the state; I just have to find it. I can set this goal because I know I will consciously and subconsciously do things differently than most hunters who are just hoping to luck out on a nice four-point. I am also conscious of the near impossibility of the goal, but instead of getting discouraged, I just try harder. As it turns out, life is about dreaming big and expecting excellence.
I always wanted to find an arrowhead, and now I’ve found two. I always wanted to shoot a 200-inch trophy buck, and now I have two. I’ve always wanted to enlarge my consciousness, and now I have too.
Click here for the next tip, Secret Tip #6: Put in the Time
It took me half a lifetime to really understand that success in bowhunting is a decision. Failure comes not from luck, but from failure to commit to the goal. The decision to succeed is not made a week or two before the hunt, but the very second the last season ends.
In sharing this insight with other bowhunters, I’m usually met with some hesitation. They want to agree with the premise, but don’t really understand it. So let me explain:
When I make the decision to succeed—to arrow a great buck—I set a goal for the entire year. And it’s not just any goal, but the most difficult goal to reach. It’s so difficult because there are just too many variables in bowhunting and no guarantees. What if I simply can’t find a good buck this season?
By setting such a lofty goal, one’s mind begins making immediate preparations to accomplish it. Throughout the year, this goal is broken down into planning, studying, shooting, equipment preparations, mind-set, and a myriad of other sub-goals.
Keeping this primary goal in the forefront of my mind, I find myself making daily decisions to achieve it. One example is to block out my intended hunting dates on the calendar. No matter what opportunity or responsibility arises, I absolutely refuse to alter my schedule. This year alone I’ve turned down two potentially profitable jobs that would’ve interfered with my hunt dates.
Admittedly this can be very difficult for some people. Most jobs will allow one week off work, or two if you’re lucky. The sad fact is, if you let your all-important job interfere with your hunting schedule, then you can’t set the goal in the first place. The decision isn’t yours to make.
Setting such big goals sets a precedence upon which failure is not an option. If you are truly committed to a goal, subconsciously you will make mental and spiritual goals which you aren’t even aware of; goals which will seemingly magically bring you and your quarry together into a single space and time. I believe there are unseen forces in the universe that want you to succeed; that are willing to help you if you let them. You just have to want it bad enough. This is the only way to beat bad luck.
As mentally and physically prepared as I might be, bowhunting often feels overwhelming at times. I believe that bowhunting trophy bucks–both successfully and consistently–is the hardest thing a person can do. I also know that there are greater forces at work than I can ever understand which increase my odds. Some call it the power of positive thinking. Some call it Zen hunting.
There is nothing more magical than the breaking dawn of a season opener. And there is nothing more deflating than last light of an unsuccessful season closer. I have no intention of ever experiencing a failed season again. I’ve made the decision!
Click here for my Secret Bowhunting Tip #3: Be Patient
“Keep up the good fight.”
How many times have you heard that? “Keep up the good fight!” What the heck does it mean?
In my last post, I wrote about adversity and how each year, right before the bowhunt, the symbolic ‘steely claws’ tighten their grip on me and makes life downright miserable. As this disrupts my focus on the hunt—the one thing I fight for all year long—then I have no choice but to fight back. So today, I’m addressing the good fight.
My research tells me that “the good fight” is a reference to the biblical figure, Paul, who said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7). As a modern axiom, the good fight refers to anyone who fights for what he believes.
For me, the good fight is the fight against evil and injustice. It’s the fight against selfishness and those who take advantage of others. It’s the fight against a government that intrudes upon our God-given freedoms. I’ll fight against anyone who tries to steal or destroy my freedom, property, or peace of mind. Sometimes I simply fight weeds in my garden or insects in my house. I fight daily for my tiny little space on this planet.
Now, let’s get back to the Christian reference. In Christianity there’s a whole lot of gospel about forgiveness and turning the other cheek. That’s nice and all, but it doesn’t apply here. After all, Paul was a fighter. He fought the good fight (whatever that was), and ever since, Christians have been fighting against something, whether it was persecution, evil, or their right of religious expression.
Occasionally throughout history, Christians even went looking for a fight, as was the case with the Crusades and the Thirty Years’ War. The point is that good people have always fought and will continue fighting for what they believe in. That’s the good fight!
Years ago I was on a bowhunt and just minding my own business. When I returned to my truck one night, I found that someone had cut up my back tires with a knife. Long story short, I was lucky to get off the mountain. But for a long time I was filled with pure hatred and ready to fight. But with no known assailant or motive, I couldn’t fight; nor could I forgive. Thus, the fight stuck with me for a long time.
As with any marriage, my wife and I occasionally have a good ol’ fashioned brawl. We’re both somewhat bull-headed and prone to skirmishes. But later, after we’ve made up, she tells me how she hates fighting. And in a jovial way, I tell her that I love fighting! Fighting is how you address and resolve problems in a relationship. Like it or not, fighting is progress. After a good fight we usually feel much better. It’s just a matter of perspective, I guess.
In the recent past I had two conversations about the good fight with two different people with whom I’m close to. They are both good people, but each had an exact opposite opinion. The first person said something along the lines of, “You shouldn’t fight! It’s a waste of energy. Instead, lie low and stay out off the radar. That’s what you need to do to protect yourself and your family.”
At first this made sense, but after further contemplation I realized I’d never heard anything more selfish and ignorant. His argument accepts that there will always be evil and we shouldn’t do anything to stop it. What a pile of crap! In his defense, he was trying to convince me not to be a martyr; not to waste my energy fighting against “the system,” a battle which I could never win. But I still disagree. Fighting the system is how America was founded in the first place.
The second person I talked to is a fighter. He believes you should always fight against evil wherever it’s found. He actively fights against liberalism, ignorance, government intrusion, corruption, and whatever evil dares rear its head. He’s a family man, a devout father, and a Christian. He’s humble and kind and one of the few great people I know personally.
I say fight the good fight! Fight evil where you can. Avenge the evil done unto the innocent. Hunt the hunters. Any person or entity that exacts purposeful harm upon another person should be fought. Fighting is a righteous cause.
By absorbing all the stress from unchecked aggression, you invite despair, depression, and madness into your life. When I was a kid, my dad said, “If anyone bully’s you at school, I want you to punch them square in the nose as hard as you can. Don’t worry about getting in trouble; I’ll back you up.” Now, my dad was a very peaceful man, but he knew that by allowing myself to be bullied would set my life up for failure. Cowardice is never the answer.
Kids these days are rarely encouraged to fight back. When my son was very young, I told him what my dad told me: to fight back against any bully who would harm him. Much to my chagrin, he refused adamantly, pleading that “it was against the rules.” This pacifist attitude is very unhealthy in the long run, and completely unnatural.
Without the fight, some kids absorb so much mental torture that one day they crack and bring a gun to school and kill a bunch of innocent people. And every time this happens, society divides the blame into three categories: 1) blame the gun, 2) blame the bully, and 3) blame mental illness. But they’re wrong. Society is to blame for taking the fight out of kids. Fighting is natural. It’s nature’s way of establishing balance.
In conclusion, life can turn on you in a second. There is too much evil and too many controlling entities always collaborating against you and your freedom. Happiness is fleeting also, and no one is immune to calamity. By ignoring the good fight—by allowing evil to thrive everywhere—you indirectly hurt the innocent.
It reminds me of a quote by Edmund Burke, who said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Evil thrives in a pacified society that teaches kids never to fight. Fighting for what you believe is healthy and natural. If you never fight, you’ll eventually lose your freedom and your mind.
Keep up the good fight!
Click below to read the three previous articles:
So, this is a good year; my worst was 2008. I won’t get into the specifics, but instead let’s look at the lessons I learned that year. The following are the three mechanisms that control our lives:
These three mechanisms dictate the ebb and flow of our lives. They affect one’s mind-set, attitude, success, and ultimately our fate. We can control some things, and are controlled by others.
What I want to focus on today is the greatest enemy of peace, and that is Controls. Controls come from the great unknown. It is the source of our greatest fears because your life can change in seconds and you never see it coming. It is the finger of God. It is fate.
Some argue that one’s attitude will eliminate fear and other negative effects of controls; that our happiness is strictly determined by our reaction to stressful events. This is the case when, say, your car breaks down or you catch a cold. But if your son gets flattened by a garbage truck or your house burns down, well, positive thinking will only take you so far. You are no longer in control; you are being controlled. Too much control can cause a breakdown.
So what can you do about it?
Nothing. You don’t have to like it; flee from it if you can. We are justified in fearing Controls. You can never control the Controller. But when crap happens, fight it where you can, embrace it if you can’t. Turn tragedy into action, not reaction, and know that given enough time you can get through anything, and maybe come out stronger for it.
You will always have controls. This is how we learn and grow; this is the purpose of life. There is no pleasure without pain. The knife is honed by friction.