No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. for he is not permitted to prove himself. ~ Seneca
In our society, it’s the man who is born into wealth who is viewed as being blessed with a gift that he did not have to earn. But it is the man born into much adversity who is given the greatest gift of all: the gift to test his mettle, to prove his worth, to see what he is, indeed, made of. (Read This: Quietly Become Great)
It’s while this man is facing obstacle after obstacle that, if he so chooses, will acquire far more grit and toughness than his counterpart who’s faced little in the way of tribulation.
Great men aren’t always the ones we read about in history books. They’re often the men who faced life as men, who refused to refuse responsibility, who took what was coming on their feet and made the lives of those around them not only better, but possible.
Our society judges success numerically. It’s normally what a man’s done or what he’s acquired that we judge him on. The true value of a man, however, isn’t found in his bank account or on his property, but within him. It’s difficult to explain the importance of this fact because everywhere you go and everyone you talk to will likely judge you on the former rather than the latter. But it’s their judgment that you cannot fret over nor take to heart.
There are bigger things at play than we realize. As death becomes your next adventure, it won’t be the things you buy nor the land you hold that will bring you happiness, pride, or contentment, it’s the mouths you’ve fed, the honor you’ve upheld, and the people you’ve defended that will bring you solace and peace.
The man with things to his name and numbers in his estate may have meaning, too, but only if he lives a life filled with adversity and struggle, obstacles, fears faced, and battles won. The man who lives a life without turmoil and in complete ease and peace, devoid of adversity and struggle, cannot call himself a man, nor know what he’s made of, nor proclaim that he has truly lived. (Read This: How to Face Your Biggest Fears and Win)
To live you must suffer and love. You must feel pain and despair. You must reach your end, continually, always proving to yourself that there is more within, and the only way to discover the toughness that you possess is by going beyond what you know you can do and withstand.
This life isn’t for the timid of heart. It isn’t for the weak, nor the sensitive. Life is for the audacious, the bold, the tough, the humble, the proud, the courageous. To truly live life is not done with pure enjoyment or elation, but in struggle, pain, and purpose.
Don’t look at your life, your situation, where you are now, with pity. That is incredibly weak and un-manly. Instead look at the challenges you face like a lion hunting his prey. Attack each with the ferocity of generations of warriors that run through your blood. Claim your obstacles as your own. Be proud in accomplishing them. Be honorable in how you go about it.
To live you life you must live it as a man, always facing what comes on your feet.
Read This: The Most Important Battle You’ll Ever Face
About The Author
Chad Howse: Chad’s mission is to get you in the arena, ‘marred by the dust and sweat and blood’, to help you set and achieve audacious goals in the face of fear, and not only build your ideal body, but the life you were meant to live. He’s a former 9-5er turned entrepreneur, a former scrawny amateur boxer turned muscular published fitness author. He’ll give you the kick in the ass needed to help you live a big, ambitious life.
You can contact him at –
http://www.
https://www.Facebook.com/
https://www.YouTube.com/
This was great. When is the next podcast? This would be a great topic
Filming it today. This will be the topic for sure.
Excellent! Thanks for the reply. I have gotten great value from your sites and podcasts!
Keep up the good work.
John 15:16
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
_________________________________
“To ‘ask in His name’ displays a willingness to do all that is necessary under the Law to obtain that which is lawful. To ‘ask in His name’ is not stooping to beggary, but expresses a willingness to make a full exchange for that which we need or desire. There is no Law by which something may be obtained for nothing. The Law is exchange.
When seeking Spiritual or Godly aid, we must comply with the terms; with the Law that governs; just as in seeking a loan from a bank, we are ready to offer collateral, a guarantee, for that which we need and desire; ever bearing in mind the Hermetic Law:
“As in the inner, so in the outer.
As in the above, so in the below.”
God is not God simply because He is in a position to grant or deny a request; but because He has established the Law that HE WHO LABORS COMPLIES WITH THE LAW MUST BE
PAID THE WAGES FOR HIS LABORS, in compliance with the Law; while those who fail or refuse to labor, shall not be paid the wages of labor.
The Law which dictates: “As ye sow, so shall ye reap,” is the identical Law which commands: “Give, [do, obey,] and it shall be given unto you.” The Law refuses to reward anyone for being a beggar, whether the thing asked for be Spiritual or material.
This Law is clearly pointed out in the statement:
“… I have chosen you, and ordained you, THAT YE SHOULD GO AND BRING FORTH FRUIT, AND THAT YOUR FRUIT SHOULD REMAIN . . .”
No man can bring forth fruit unless he labors, i.e., fulfills the Law making it possible for fruit to be brought forth.”
John 15:19
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
_________________________________
“If we were ‘of the world,’then we would not interfere with injustices and gross unrighteousness. We would ‘go along’ with those in power, or with those who possess the authority to force others to do their Will, however unjust might be such a regime. To be ‘of the world’ is to be complacent in the face of all evils; to do nothing with which the majority do not agree.
To be ‘different’ is to be ‘damned.’ The world hates those who are different and refuse to be in agreement with the popular trend and despises those who would set reforms into motion, however sorely they may be needed; hence it is written: “If ye will suffer for my sake”.
‘Not to be of the world’ requires that insofar as is humanly possible, we obey the Divine Law. To live in the Spirit, rather than in the outer carnal self; to be as free as a human can be, of hatred, malice, envy, avarice, and all the other passions of the same nature, cultivating opposite or nobler emotions that spring from the heart, or the Higher Self.”
John 15:18
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
_____________________________
“In the phrase ‘ it hated me before it hated you,’ is the implication of the world’s hatred for, or resentment against, everything that is of a Spiritual nature. This includes everything that conflicts with, interferes with, or would destroy the established customs and systems not based on friendship, justice and equality of opportunity.
It includes everything which permits one or many who are parasitic in their dealings with their fellow men, to take from them, or withhold from them, by unjust or unfair means, that which rightly belongs to them. It includes infringement of the rights of the weak; of those who are unprotected, or incapable of defending themselves in any form, or in any manner, against INJUSTICES, whatever they may be.
Moreover, it is eternally true that every man attracts hatred if he lives in a manner THAT CAUSES OTHERS TO FEEL GUILTY; or if he takes the part of the aggrieved. The word “me,” as used here, embraces everything of an honest, sincere, Spiritual nature; EVERYTHING that is against UNRIGHTEOUSNESS and INJUSTICE; against IMMORALITY and that which is by its nature DEGRADING.”
“Man, of himself, is ‘of a few days, to be known no more.’ If, however, he will fulfill the Law that connects him with the Parent ‘Tree,’ he will bring into life and manifestation the
‘fruit-bearing branch,’ the Soul he received from the Parent Tree, the Creator. Then will he will bear fruit — Eternal Life.
As mortals, we are cut off from the Parent Tree. We became so when the Soul left its heavenly sphere in search of wisdom — to know and to experience. Now that Soul must find its way back to the Source from which it sprang. Its work, its effort, must be to reunite itself with the Parent Tree; to become at-one with it, and abide in it.”
John 15:
1. I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
________________________________
“All men are branches of the one Tree; that Tree being the Universal Whole; the Creator; the Giver of the Law; that which we call God or the Father. Being branches, or off -shoots from this one Tree, the Word in the beginning, we must follow the Law under which we were created. We must “bear fruit,” that is, produce or bring into being as did He, fruit of like nature.
This demands obedience to the Law; enabling us to produce according to the Law. If we do not do this, if we do not obey, or fulfill the Law, then the Law, or God, will “purge” us.
The good husbandman, even on this mundane sphere, will cut away all branches from his fruit-bearing trees, and branches from his vines, that are non-bearing, knowing as he does, that if he did not do so these non-bearing fruit would destroy the tree or the vine itself.”
John 13:
14. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15. For I have given you an example, that ye do as I have done to you.
16. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
17. If ye know these things, happy are ye if you do them.
_____________________________
“One of the most difficult lessons for mankind to learn, one that MUST BE MASTERED BY ALL WHO SEEK TO BE FREE, IS THAT EACH ONE MUST BE AN APPRENTICE BEFORE HE CAN BECOME A MASTER. TO BECOME A MASTER HE FIRST WILLINGLY BECOMES A SERVANT IN ORDER TO GAIN ALL THE KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY TO THE MASTER THAT HE MAY WISELY COMMAND OR DIRECT THE SERVANT.
Service is the only Arch that can hold together the structure of humanity, as it is of the TEMPLE NOT MADE WITH HANDS wherein the Lord, and THE SOUL, worship. No temple, not even that “made without hands” can be built without an Arch, and that Arch is SERVICE rightly, correctly, willingly performed. There is nothing more exalting than willing service in the building of the Temple wherein the Conscious, Immortal Soul may dwell.”