“But man is not made for defeat... A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” -Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway is one of my favorite authors, for several reasons. I strive to be like him; both in life as well as in my writing. His style is raw, blunt, and simple, yet still incredibly poignant. His characters are all terribly relatable, his works have made me feel things that I haven't felt in a long time... and (much like myself) he was really just the manliest son of a gun around.
But this quote is specially important to me! It really represents a way of life, and it reflects a certain kind of truth.
Cause the truth is... you aren't defeated until you say you're defeated. Some people get discouraged pretty easily; full disclosure I have never been one of those people. You know why? I'm not made for defeat.
Tonight I had the worst workout of my life, it was really just an off night. I failed a squat that I hit easily last week and I walked out early when an old injury started nagging at me... but you can bet that next leg day Wednesday afternoon I'll be right back at it! Tonight wasn't a defeat. It was a speed bump, an obstacle, maybe even a roadblock if I actually hurt myself. But it doesn't matter; even if it takes me three weeks or a month or three months I'm gonna crush that new PR!
And that's what it's all about, folks. Publisher rejected your submission? You're not defeated until you give up. Send that future bestseller to another publisher!
You asked that girl out and she said no? Doesn't matter, there are like two billion of them in the world. Find a better girl! (Or guy, my point is the same.)
Sure, you can (theoretically) destroy me. If you somehow manage to sneak up on me, beat me in a fight, and knock me over the head with a brick... I'll actually still probably get up. But for argument's sake if you manage to throw me off a plane or something then I'll smile on the way down! You know why? Cause even if I land on the sidewalk at 100 mph I wasn't defeated. Destroyed, flattened, but until you actively choose to stay down, choose to quit, choose to stop pushing, you can't lose!
I remember how excited I was when I first realized that... it's freeing! Sure I could fail over and over and over again (and I do, believe me), but I couldn't lose. My excuses slowly began to fade away; all that was left was me and my goals.
So... what's your excuse? Too tired to write? Afraid to talk to that special somebody across the room? I get it. I've been there, I'l be there again.
But even if you fail, you aren't defeated until you decide you're defeated. If your goals aren't important enough to you, if you'd rather give in than keep fighting... then I guess I don't have a ton to say to you.
But I think if you're reading this then you're a lot like me. We're not built for defeat. They can beat us down, they can knock us out, but they can't make us quit.
Have a great night folks, Bobby's in your corner;)
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