Defeat, my Defeat, my deathless courage, You and I shall laugh together with the storm, And together we shall dig graves for all that die in us, And we shall stand in the sun with a will, And we shall be dangerous.
From “Defeat” by Kahlil Gibran [should be centered on the page but that function of Typepad is not working today]
In skimming the new book The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything . . . Fast!, I ran into a story that has influenced me ever since. Not a day has gone by in the week, plus a day, since the reading that I have not found motivation in the story. As I learn new things such as iPhoneography, I now jump in more quickly and easily, making an ever-wider detour around perfectionism. I hope the story’s influence does not wear off but instead lasts until the jumping-in attitude and skill is mastered by me at the level of unconscious competence.
Another lesson I learned from this story: The effects of a story, even a short one, can be potent. Actually I relearned that lesson, as I am already convinced of story’s clout. And now here’s that story:
