By W.C. Fields

A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her.

Adversity

I believe that Jacob Braude once said that adversity is like a grindstone. Adversity either grinds you down to nothing, or it polishes you up like a sparkling diamond. Adversity causes some people to break and others to break records. It's essential to embrace and welcome adversity into your life. Never run from adversity but use it to motivate yourself. A handicap is adversity which can polish you and make you shine.

The Samurai Philosphy

I’m studying the Samurai Philosophy. I find it fascinating. It’s amazing how much we can learn from the Samurai. This ancient philosophy is important for us to learn in the 21st century.

Samurai were dedicated warriors, which lived a very DISCIPLINED life style. Being a Samurai was a way of life. They were complete PERFECTIONISTS. They raised the bar and expected themselves to jump over it. They had very HIGH STANDARDS in every aspect of life. SELF DISCIPLINE was the key to this philosophy.

“Death is a central aspect of the Samurai philosophy. When a Samurai is faced with a situation in which he must choose between life and death, his immediate, unhesitating choice is always DEATH. While the desire to live is natural, and we temper our actions according to this desire, there is no doubt that opting for life without realizing our ambitions is cowardly.” (Robert Samuel, 2004) I ponder how different life would be if we didn’t fear death and actually looked forward to it.

A Samurai valued EDUCATION and were expected to carry a book when they were not training. Why can’t my students be more like Samurai, I keep asking myself? They wanted to be well educated. They were expected to be intelligent and well read. They were responsible for their own education.

Irresponsible behavior of every type was considered DISHONORABLE. They were HONEST, SINCERE and LAW ABIDING people. They didn’t need any laws or rules of conduct because they always did what was right and avoided doing what was wrong. They would always tell the TRUTH. LYING was considered a disgrace that will never leave you.

HUMILITY was highly important. A Samurai didn’t want to stand out or draw attention to him self. They just wanted to quietly go about their business. They were NOT EGOTISTICAL or ARROGENT people. They carefully watched what they would say. Words can harm everyone. They were men of few words. You couldn’t get them to talk very much, however they would ask questions and LISTEN attentively.

Samurai believed in HARD WORK. They had an outstanding WORK ETHIC. They believed MANUAL LABOR was a good thing. It was a good thing to dig ditches, move rocks, build roads and rock walls. They loved to work in bad weather because it made them mentally TOUGH and strong. After all war is not fought in good weather. They didn’t like any comforts of any kind because it makes one SOFT. In order to progress in life, one had to improve every day in every aspect.

Today a Samurai would be a parent, teacher and coach’s dream come true! What can we learn form this group of people? How to we instill some of these characteristics in people today? Many people today are as far from this philosophy as you can get. The Samurai would be appalled by our culture.