Lessons Learned: Samwise the Brave

Monday Morning Restart - 4/22/2024

Welcome to another week!

We keep on moving forward through life. Work has gotten busy and I am reminded constantly to take a look around every once in a while to remind myself what it’s all about.

What I learned this week: Samwise the Brave

This weekend I spent some time reflecting in my journal and I came across some notes from when I last read Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. In my edition, and any edition published after 1984, there is a post-script titled, “A Case for a Tragic Optimism”. In it, Frankl lays out his reasons for embracing the tragedy of life to find ultimate meaning in our lives.

I couldn't help but think of Sam’s Speech at the end of The Two Towers movie. Sam goes on a little rant about ‘the great stories’ and how the main characters had many chances of turning back, only they didn’t. Their life was hard, their quest was hard, and in the end: the world could not go back to the way it was before, because too much bad had happened. So their quest was to succeed even though their life couldn’t go back to the way it was. But they refused to turn back. Because they were holding on to something.

“What are we holding onto, Sam?” - Frodo

“That there’s good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And that it’s worth fighting for.” -Samwise the Brave

There it is, folks. That is what the Quest is all about. There is good in this world. We live tragic lives of lost opportunity and mistakes we’ve made. Despite all that, there’s good in this world and it’s worth fighting for. We need to embrace tragedy and live with optimism.

What I’m reading:

• The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene

• Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

• Endurance by Alfred Lansing

• Zig-Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity by Keith Sawyer