“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”

Or.. has it has grown in recent popularity…

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

And I say to that… what a bunch of bunk. (Okay… it could be true for you.  But not so much… for a bunch of different people I’ve seen… in a lot of different circumstances.)

The guy who first made this observation from Friedrich Nietzsche. He had all sorts of catchy quotes during his lifetime.  Most of which, were a little on the dark side.

But this one… well… not a very good or true statement, in my opinion.

Take Nietzsche himself.  The guy contracted syphilis, and it made him completely and utterly mad.  Yep.  He spent the last 11 years of is life… totally out of mental commission.  The syphilis never killed him.  But it left him pretty much incapacitated.   He suffered a collapse as a result of it, and a complete loss of his mental faculties.  His Mom and Sister had to care for him.

Finally, he died from unrelated causes.  Strokes.  So, as you can see, the syphilis neither killed him… nor did it make him stronger.

Yep.  Have you noticed?  I’m in a bit of a dour mood tonight.

I have been thinking about the facts of life today.  And one of those facts is… sometimes in our lives… there are losing battles.  Plain and simple.

No way around it.

I’m tired of a big losing battle in society right now.  That’s all I will say about that.  I promised not to speak of politics or religion here.

Nice weather we are having, eh?

…. insert awkward silence here ….. ……..

But back to Nietzsche and losing battles.

I am not so sure how to react, or what to do, when I feel the battle is lost.

Wave the white flag? Pack my bags?  Give up the fight?  Throw in the towel?  Fold up the tent?

I don’t know.  It doesn’t feel right to me to turn away from what which I know is true… or the things I truly believe in.  On the other hand, I  can see so much resistance, from people who obviously believe in completely different things.

Somebody once told me to “Stomp, Scram, Spit, Cry. Just don’t go numb again.”  Yeah, well…. I’m just not sure The Stomp & Scram is the way to go either.

I also grew up with the axiom… “Quitters never win.  And winners never quit.”

Again, I am not so sure winning is all that it is cracked up to be.

“The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.” – Vince Lombardi

“Let’s face it.  We’re screwed.” – Spunky McIllwain

“Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.” – Frank Lloyd Wright