WHAT THEN WILL YOU DO?
HOW WILL YOU SHOW YOURSELF A MAN?
1. Try to recall the most recent occasions when you have rehearsed the dark side of your past: the betrayals, the cruel words, the prophecies of doom, and the insults. Try to recall, also, the case you were making. Were you using your wounds to excuse yourself in some way? This case, supported by the evidence of your wounds, shows you the direction in which you are deforming your life through bitterness and self-pity. Look at it closely. It’s your enemy.
2. Now consider your hardships and disappointments in Churchillian perspective. What did they mean for you that might be helpful? Did you hide in your room to escape a harsh parent, but then end up reading or practicing an instrument or lifting weights? Is there any good you can build upon from your otherwise painful experiences? And what good did the people who caused these pains leave for you? A coach might have humiliated you, but he may also have taught you how to work hard. A teacher may have insulted you for an entire school year, but she also may have spent ten minutes teaching something that changed your life. Search through the rubble. Find the good. Extend it.
3. Finally, act! Attempt “great actions.” Stop excusing. Stop relieving yourself from duty. Do! Step out! Move forward! Achieve where you were supposed to fail. Make a difference where you were supposed to be inept. Answer the curses with a life well lived.