RE: Unsure whether my time at AF and TTA has been positive or negative.
July 9, 2014 at 4:24 am
(This post was last modified: July 9, 2014 at 4:26 am by The Grand Nudger.)
Personally, I'm not so sure that having "an ideal person" to strive towards is actually all that helpful at all. Suppose we do spend our time trying to emulate that person? Trying to be superhumans, something that we are not. Are we likely to succeed? No. Meanwhile, we've been actively avoiding that part of ourselves which we hope to modify rather than accepting it as a feature - and not a bug- of the human machine.
An analogy I like to use to describe why I feel that this sort of thing is not only pointless but counterproductive goes abit like this. Suppose two men have before them a steam engine. They both use it to do work. Both steam engines have leaks, here and there. One man can't stand it -spends all of his time trying to plug those leaks, and assuming that he succeeds, all he's done is increased the pressure within the boiler - which is fine...so long as the boiler isn't going to explode, but doesn't necessarily translate into any more work being done. The second man says "so be it", brings the steam engine into his greenhouse, and uses that escaping steam for some productive purpose like heating or humidifying.
In the context of a human being, who has the better idea? The guy who contributes to the internal pressure while accomplishing no additional work, or the guy who accepts the flaws in his system, looks for ways to turn them into an advantage, and then actually makes something out of them? Meh, personally...I'd go with the second guy. So, again this is just me, I'm not looking to "avoid sin" - I'm wondering what sort of productive things my "sin" could be doing.
An analogy I like to use to describe why I feel that this sort of thing is not only pointless but counterproductive goes abit like this. Suppose two men have before them a steam engine. They both use it to do work. Both steam engines have leaks, here and there. One man can't stand it -spends all of his time trying to plug those leaks, and assuming that he succeeds, all he's done is increased the pressure within the boiler - which is fine...so long as the boiler isn't going to explode, but doesn't necessarily translate into any more work being done. The second man says "so be it", brings the steam engine into his greenhouse, and uses that escaping steam for some productive purpose like heating or humidifying.
In the context of a human being, who has the better idea? The guy who contributes to the internal pressure while accomplishing no additional work, or the guy who accepts the flaws in his system, looks for ways to turn them into an advantage, and then actually makes something out of them? Meh, personally...I'd go with the second guy. So, again this is just me, I'm not looking to "avoid sin" - I'm wondering what sort of productive things my "sin" could be doing.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
