Calling the young to embrace the crucible of adversity.

Never say die. It’s not all gloom and doom. Group solidarity. Play our part. Don’t just rely on Government. And the best way to predict the future is to create it.

How about that? Minister Lawrence Wong has spoken. It was at the NTU’s student union forum. His theme? Embrace difficult times as crucibles that forge character. 

He borrowed the adage of “how one could deal with adversity by letting it define, destroy or strengthen one.” How do you argue with that? You know the good minister is right, right? Inspired? Well, you have to be there to soak in the esprit de corps. 

He also said: “The Goverment will do our part to support you, and partner you in this exciting journey ahead.” I think that has always been our nation’s philosophy, from independence to the 4G leadership. It’s about adversity, agency and autonomy. That is, you do your part, we do ours. 

Mind you, the gap is not bridged by one party at one extreme. It is bridged by two parties meeting somewhere in the middle, or center left/right. But still, you have to take that first step, and be consistent in spirit and mind about wanting to embrace adversity, making a positive change and making it count until you reach your goal.

And talking about agency and autonomy, I am reminded about the resource curse. Over the decades, stats have shown that those “blessed” with natural resources like oil and minerals are always struggling to stand on their own two feet as a society or nation. 

Their society is so pampered, they suffer the consequences of fragility and inflexibility. More insidious is complacency and the prevalence of internal strife, where what comes too easy from mother nature tends to corrupt what is inherent in our human nature.

So, adversity can define you. It can transform or destroy you. That is why it is only half truth when they say that you give a man a fish and you feed him a day. But you teach him how to fish, well, you feed him a lifetime. That much resonated with me, especially the second part. Yet, after you teach him (or her), the next step is to go out there to fish. Fish don’t come to you, or throw themselves onto dry ground for you. 

And when you do go out there, don’t expect calm waters all day long. At times, things are beyond your control; like storms, they can wreck your day or catch. What-chew gonna do then?

That is the greatest struggle for anyone, at any age, right? And to be consistent about it, pushing through it with grit and determination, well, that can’t exactly be taught. That was what Lawrence meant when he said: “the bottom line is that all Singaporeans have to play their part and not just rely on the government measures and policies.” Each doing their part. 

Yet, between giving someone a fish, teaching to catch fish and rowing out there to haul in the catch (you can see how the transition subtly makes the giver or tutor unnecessary over time), there are many seasonal gaps that the young have to bridge. And it can be a real struggle too.

Yes, those upper class families will have it easier, but not those languishing at the lower rungs of society. That is in fact the mother of all gaps, and for some societies, especially the developed ones, with very high wealth and social inequalities, it’s really never the twain shall meet. The struggle for them is even harder. 

That alone is a major factor contributing to our age of disillusionment, especially for the young.

Sometimes, when I do sit down at some of these conferences, when they do speak about positivity and encouraging pick-me-ups, I always feel something is missing. In other words, that gap between the speaker and the listeners is just visceral, raw and real. 

Well, I am not giving excuses for procrastination or not breaking the inertia when self-mastery and self-responsibility are called for, but the young today are facing very different existential challenges from the young of past generations before them.

In a timely article today, entitled “Young graduates: Could economic and political setbacks radicalise a generation?”, a group of writers came forward to spell out a very different zeitgeist our younger generation are living in (or confronting). 

Apart from the wealth gap, they are struggling with their disillusionment with politics, as in the division and often juvenile antics of various political parties and leaders. They essentially felt “abandoned” by politicians. And the jobless rate has changed too, not on the rosy side though. For those under-25s, it rose from 11.5% to 12.95% (between Feb last year and this June, according to OECD countries). 

“In Britain, people aged under 30 are now four times as likely to rent than they were two generations ago”. And a Cambridge University study in 2020 shows that “faith in the democratic system had already experienced its steepest fall even amongst those aged 18 to 34 in the eve of the pandemic”. 

In one of the litany of lamentations, a technical analyst Niharika Singh, who emigrated to the US from India at age two, said: “My parents have literally said that they don’t want me and my sister to settle down here with our families eventually. This country has not lived up to the expectations we had, which is so jarring.”

I know Niharika is talking about America, that is, the nation’s social safety net is too narrow, but in Singapore, there is some parallel when it comes to the high cost of living, the income and social gaps, the struggles of the poor, and the hidden merit-fueled society, which outwardly embraces those less credentialed, yet inwardly conveniently shifts one’s prejudices, but not jettison it all out of his/her system. 

Alas, discrimination still exists, whether it is by merit, by age and/or by class. I won’t be surprised if some Singaporean parents offer the same advice Niharika’s parents gave to her - “don’t settle down here”. 

Well, our ministers can sit in an air-conditioned hall to encourage, and that is no doubt necessary and timely. But, the reality for many can be too discouraging for a seasonal pat-on-the-back speech. Good intention aside, it is the bleak ground condition that drowns out the positive, celebratory cheers by the side. 

What’s more, with the decline in religious faith amongst the young, and the climate emergency and random flooding, akan datang to a flat land near you, well, you sometimes have to squint real hard to find the silver lining in the gathering storm. 

Let me nevertheless end with what one graduate of anthropology in London, Hannah Tasker, said. ““I’ve learnt that “political” doesn’t have to mean political parties”...It means whether there is justice, whether the country and economy and society are working for everyone.”” Hannah however said, “it is not.”

That’s true. It still leaves much to be desired. Imperfect, screwed-up, world right? And Hannah and the many voices of disillusionment have all got a point. 

But, after all’s said, and when the rubber of self-mastery meets the plain hard road, I can’t say Lawrence is wrong. 

For who can argue with saying that “it’s not all gloom and doom”? Or, who can dispute the adage that “one could deal with adversity by letting it define, destroy or strengthen one”? Isn’t it true that we have come so far because we have not allowed adversity to destroy us, but strengthen us? 

They say people who are experiencing sadness, see the world more realistically and clearly. I guess that is why it is said, “blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Truly, out of the ashes, one eventually rises. 

So, at every crossroad or intersection of one’s life, we have to challenge ourselves, and pick up the broken pieces to start all over. Every step counts, every step to our own recovery. 

And yes, the best way to predict the future is to create it. But you have to want to see or imagine it first. More importantly, there must be a future in the first place where all people of all races, classes and cultures can have a fair stake in it. No one wants to labour in vain, without hope. 

I guess, we will just have to work together, because what doesn’t kill us indeed makes us stronger. And we have to decide to persist to make it work for all, and for all our future generations, in one group solidarity, towards vision and hope.

 

Ivan Lim Saga.

I think the thing about skeletons in the closet is that it reeks. You can hide it from sight, but you can’t stop the smell from coming out. 

By now, it’s, well, yesterday’s news. Ivan Lim has withdrawn from the GE 2020. It was a brief political life of a candidate who was being relentlessly singled out by those he had crossed path (or sword) with in the past. Mind you, no other candidate thus far has to face his/her questionable past as Ivan had to. 

“I recognised that the controversy over my candidacy has eclipsed the core issues of what this election should be about - Singapore’s future and the difficult steps we have to take to recover from Covid-19,” Ivan wrote in a letter to PM Lee.

“The controversy has also caused intense pain and stress for my family. I cannot put my family through this.”

Alas, when you are put into the political grind, in a electoral process called democracy, be prepared to face your past, because the paper trail of your character will testify to whether you are able to stand up to public scrutiny or not. 

And don’t expect the more vocal section of the public to cut the dominant status quo some slack on this. Most times, every candidate they offer will be cut open for surgical examination. And one wrong pinch-like incision may result in an inordinate political haemorrhage with irreversible spillover effect. 

This squares with what Law Minister recently commented about “Alfiangate”. He said that “a small group of people” have “almost a Pavlovian response” to things said by the PAP or the Government, which he said was “sheer hypocrisy.” And it should be noted that these so-called Pavlovian dogs’ barks can be more lethal than its bite. 

In any event, this is a game PAP knows too well. LKY once said this about PAP’s success: -

“We will only be like this with an honest and capable government, capable of dealing with neighbours who do not want to see us succeed and capable enough to command the respect from the big countries with large numbers of able people and talk with them as equals. We choose our leaders carefully.”

He added: “What counts? First, integrity. Second, commitment. Third, ability. And fourth, most important, a capacity to expound and carry people with you.”

Unfortunately, Ivan’s capacity to carry people with him died stillborn because commitment and ability are not enough. You need to win hearts, that is, the heart of every voter, from the richest to the poorest. It is called the democracy of persuasion and conviction. 

And you can expect during such rare season of election to be a time where your faults/flaws are magnified a thousandfold, especially when it deals with the allegations of elitism and arrogance - the main scourge of inequality. For indeed, electoral hell has no fury like being shown an elitist’s smirk. 

And this is made worse with the help of viral technology, and especially when it comes at a time where people’s hearts are unsettled, anxious and insecure. 

So, in the end, PAP should have known better. And the way they have handled Ivan (with spillover effect to his family) is curious to say the least. This curiosity falls on three fronts. 

The first front is in the words of PM Lee after Ivan tendered his withdrawal. PM Lee said: -

“Ideally, there would have been a fair and deliberate consideration of these allegations. Unfortunately, the nature of the campaign is such that we do not have time for a thorough investigation. The allegations spread like wildfire online, eclipsing the serious life and death issues we must grapple with.”

Mm...”we do not have time for a thorough investigation”? Strange...I would have thought that what would be ideal would have been in line with this quote: “Prevention is better than cure.“ 

So, it is curious that having trumpeted the unfolding of a seemingly half-vetted candidate, he now says that we have no time due to the short campaign runway to defend him thoroughly. 

Shouldn’t the party stand by their choice if the fruit bears him out and not “drop” him even if truly defensible “allegations (spreading) like wildfire online” make their unfounded appearance? 

I hope I am not nitpicking here, but if there is a stumble in the selection process before showcasing one’s candidates on Wednesday, isn’t it better to just admit it and move on? Doesn’t an apology clear a thousand fog of suspicion? 

And mind you, this is clearly in line with the spirit of what the Law Minister and Dr Tan expected of Pritam concerning Alfian’s questionable allegiance, that is, to make your stand clear, to stand by what you say, and to stand with the truth. 

The next curious development is even more curious for me. It is in the words of Mr Masagos. If you need some reminding, here’s the full extract. 

“But I also think it is important for the candidates who may have been alleged to be something or other, to also prove themselves.”“(It is) also an opportunity for them, if they have done something in the past, to redeem themselves, because we have seen qualities in all our candidates that make them, what we think, good leaders that will serve our people well.”

Where then are the “seen qualities” in Ivan (“that make (him)... a good leader”) when online dirt about him spread like wildfire? How about allowing him to redeem himself in the future as an MP for what was not denied by Mr Masagos concerning his past? And does the government then expect the so-called Pavlovian dogs to just lick their jewels and quietly traipse away from this apparent incongruity?

Lastly, the third front is in the words of Assoc Professor Bilveer Singh. He said: “If (Ivan) withdraws, it will reflect badly in the PAP’s judgment and selection process. But I think the backlash would be even greater, if he’s kept.”

Notwithstanding the backlash, I feel this can be avoided if proper scrutiny were carried out, in the first place, because this involves not just the people’s trust, but the lives of Ivan’s loved ones and the intemperate rage of online harassment. 

And even if mistake has been made, (because we are only human), the government ought to just acknowledge it and move forward to more pressing issue, rather than push the blame on the “nature of the campaign” - as if the incumbent does not have a five-year runway to fully prepare. 

And lastly, I find Mr Masagos’ curious magnanimity towards Ivan’s redeemable past even more confounding. How then should he fill in the blanks now with Ivan’s most unexpected withdrawal? Is it then a past that, for political expediency, is now - due to time constraint - beyond redemption? 

Alas, so many questions, but the answers (or conclusions), I guess, are foregone?

Mandela - the long walk to freedom.

In Memoriam: 6 years since...

When Nelson Mandela was asked, “how has prison changed him?” He hesitated a little as if to find the question pointless and replied, “I came out mature.” 

Imagine spending 27 years in prison, most of them in solitary confinement. Not the longest sentence in history no doubt but surely enough to change a man, or any man for that matter. 

Misunderstood, mistreated, and branded as a terrorist, Mandela had indeed seen it all, felt it all and experienced it all. Notwithstanding all that, and quite unbelievably, Mandela never lost hope. 

In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, he wrote:- 

"I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”

With that kind of resolve, you can expect to be sorely tested. While good times come in a happy bunch, when you are down, bad times come in a swarm.

During his time in prison, Nelson Mandela endured the death of his mother and eldest son. When he learned of their death, he wrote that “suddenly his heart seemed to have stopped beating.” 

In one of his letters, he expressed this soul-wrenching pain:-

“Many people who ponder on the problems of the average prisoner tend to concentrate more on the lengthy sentences still to be served, the hard labour to which we are condemned, the coarse and tasteless menus, the grim and tedious boredom that stalks every prisoner and the frightful frustrations of a life in which human beings move in complete circles, landing today exactly at the point where you started the day before. But some of us have had experiences much more painful than these, because these experiences eat too deeply into one’s being, into one’s soul.”

The miscarriage of justice and the denial of freedom are just the tip of the iceberg of his unbearable pain of losing loved ones while in prison.

Yet, despite what seemed to be inconsolable, Mandela carried out his daily prison routine and labour as if it was just another ordinary day. 

Like what he said earlier, he would not and could not give himself to despair. He said with steely resilience that "part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward."

This was what made Mandela the man he is today. His is a formidable spirit that clung on to hope just as a baby would cling on to his mother’s breast. 

“Hope is a powerful weapon even when nothing else may remain...This fact endows my spirit with powerful wings,” so wrote Mandela.

It is said that hope is the feeling you have that the feeling you have is not permanent.

Prison had indeed transformed the father of modern, apartheid-free S. Africa. He has emerged not only triumphant but wholly transformed. And as he so simply puts it, “I came out mature.” 

He once said: “I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.” 

And being in prison for 27 long years easily qualifies as "extraordinary circumstances" that is enough to mold any man's mind, soul and spirit.

When Mandela returned to prison to visit the anvil of his trials, he said this: “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered."

In his private letters, he wrote, “Indeed, the chains of the body are often wings to the spirits.” He also quoted Shakespeare, “Sweet are the uses of adversity, which like a toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in the head.” 

Adversity has taught Mandela to take the long view of life. 

He learned to play the long game and to postpone personal gratification for enduring changes. Mandela saw himself as a long distance runner and a long distance thinker and prison was his marathon. Because of this, he learned to judge a life in its totality. 

Many of us look at a fall and condemn the man. But Mandela would stretch out his hand and encourage him. He has learned to follow the arc of a man’s life to its eventual redemption. 

His collaborator Richard Stengel once asked Mandela whether he was happy. In the book Mandela’s way, Lessons on Life, he noted his response to that question: -

“He frowned. It is the sort of question he regards as both superficial and intrusive - not a good combination. But eventually he did begin to talk. He talked about how his father had died too early and mostly a broken man. He talked about how his mother had died thinking that her son was a jailbird, perhaps a criminal."

"One of his regrets is that he never helped his mother understand the struggle. He alluded to the challenges faced by his own daughters. And he mentioned the ancient Greek writers he had read and enjoyed in prison. They took the long view. He could not recall the writer, but he said that there was the story of Croesus asking a wise man if he could be considered happy. And the wise man replied, “Count no man happy until you know his end.” He (Mandela) agreed with that, and that is in part what made him so prudent and so cautious.”

Lesson? Just one...

In the end, along this journey we call life, we must accept that every event we encounter all aim to impart a lesson about ourselves that we have yet to discover. And this life is very much a life of discovery as it is a life of overcoming. 

In other words, it is very much a road of wonderment as it is a road of betterment. And the wonderment of life is in the things we often overlooked or missed out in our daily busy living. 

One author puts it this way: -

"Life is not a problem to be solved; it is a gift to be opened. The color of the sky, the song of a bird, a word of kindness, a strain of music, the sun on our face, the companionship of friends, the shape of clouds in summer, the red of maples in fall – these and a thousand tiny miracles punctuate a single day in a precious human life. If we are so preoccupied with plotting our future success or failures, we unintentionally impoverish ourselves by ignoring the astonishing harvest of these small gifts, piled one upon the other, that accumulate without our awareness or acknowledgment.” (Wayne Muller, “A life of being, having and doing enough”) 

For this reason, Mandela always saw the good in others. He once shared that seeing the good in others improves the chances that they will reveal their better selves. 

He is a person who rather errs on the side of generosity than to err on the side of quick judgment or temper. 

Despite how he was treated in prison, despite the many years of incarceration and abuse, the most amazing side of his generosity is that Mandela refused to bear any hate. 

He led the way here. He essentially turned the blame game into handshakes of forgiveness and set the example.  

He once said, “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind I would still be in prison.” 

Indeed, the man’s generosity is in his ability to see beyond the seemingly indissoluble hurt and to reach out despite of it. A man of such magnanimity has effectively defeated life’s greatest enemy, that is, his self, his ego.

This is also the same man who made this observation: - 

“In real life we deal, not with gods, but with ordinary humans like ourselves; men and women who are full of contradictions, who are stable and fickle, strong and weak, famous and infamous, people in whose bloodstream the muckworm battles daily with potent pesticides.” 

Mandela harbored no delusions about the fallibility of man, including himself. I believe that his generosity is very much deepened by this admission that no man, however adored or admired, is perfect, and it is often our mutual imperfections that make us readily understandable and therefore deserving of our understanding and compassion.

Personally, I have learned a lot from reading about Mandela’s life. I guess it would be a great privilege for me to spend just one day with him and to understand a fraction of what he understands about life. 

This is the same man who once said that fearlessness is stupidity and courage is not the absence of fear but not letting it defeat you. This is also the same man whose greatest act of leadership was to renounce it. 

He served only one term of the presidency but remained active throughout his life helping others behind the glamor and glam. 

He is also described as being indifferent to almost all material possessions, that is, he cared or knew little about the names of cars, couches or watches. And Richard, his collaborator, once summed up Mandela’s life as "someone who will always stand up for what he believes is right with a stubbornness that is virtually unbending." 

Let me share an exchange between Mandela and Richard which can be found in his book Mandela's way. 

"He (Mandela) once recited for me (Richard) the parable of the young Xhosa man who left his small village to search for a wife. He spent years traveling all around the world looking for the perfect woman, but did not find her. 

Eventually he came back to the village without a bride, and on his way in saw a woman and said: "Ah, I have found my wife." 

It turns out, Mandela said, that she had lived in the hut next door to his all her life. 

I asked him (Mandela), "Is the moral of the story that you don't need to wander far and wide to find what you are looking for because it is right in front of you? Or is it that sometimes you must have wide experience and knowledge in order to appreciate those things that are closest and most familiar to you?" 

He thought about this for a moment, nodded, and then said, "There is no one interpretation. Both may be correct."

Dear readers, if you have come this far in this long post just after National Day, here's my takeaway from the above exchange. 

I imagine replacing the word "wife" with the word "happiness" and replacing the young Xhosa young man with myself. 

I imagine leaving my homeland to look for happiness. But after a long exhausting search, I came home disappointed, empty handed, until I see my wife and children, loved ones and friends, eagerly waiting for my return. 

It then dawned upon me that happiness has always been waiting for me at home. And, in the tradition of Mandela, the question for me to reflect here is this:-

"Will I have realized and come to fully embrace this truth if I had not embarked on the journey to discover life for myself?" 

Just as it is for Mandela, who had traveled long and far, enduring and overcoming 27 years of freedom denied, the death of three of his children and one great granddaughter, a troubled nation held in bondage under apartheid, and prostate cancer, I too have my own life's journey to travel, to experience, to discover and to learn from it. 

My maturity has to come from the trials I have to confront. Every fall is not the end; it is only a step forward as I keep my head pointed toward the sun, and my feet moving forward.

As iron sharpens iron, adversity sharpens me and let me see more clearly that happiness is not in the endless pursuit, it is in the relationships. It is never about the running around. It is in the going deeper. 

And throughout this journey, I must always remind myself to never give up hope for “every chains of the body are often wings to the spirits.” 

Let me end with this tribute to an ordinary man who had lived in the most extraordinary of times as expressed in his own words: -

"I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended." 

We all have our long walk to freedom. It is a road that transforms us beyond the glitters of this world, and a freedom that ultimately matures us.

The ST Singaporean of the Year.

This week, I joined a discussion with a small group of young adults and we talked about an excellent spirit. 

In today’s world, what is an excellent spirit? 

Deep inside, we have already been conditioned or preempted by the question. The word “excellent” compels us to imagine adjectives like honesty, integrity, character, goodness, consistency, kindness, and so on. 

In a pedantic nutshell, it is to be the best in everything we do; and if possible, try not to settle for just good. 

But we know that that can never satisfy because the yawning gap between a discussion about excellence and a life living it out is what’s gnawing at our spirit. Most times, a discussion of this nature is constrained by intense self-introspection.

The essence of it is this, how to not only relate to an excellent spirit personally, but to live it out daily?

At this opportune time, I feel that a nudge in the right direction here comes in 13 unsung heroes of our time, and many more unpublicised. 

They are nominees of the “ST Singaporean of the Year 2019”.

In the many articles written about it two days ago, journalist Rohit Brijnath brought out Mark Twain. His point is sharp and easily identifiable by the majority. Here is how Rohit puts it: -

“To slightly paraphrase the American humorist, he once noted that “unconsciously we all have a standard by which we measure other people, and if we examine closely we find that this standard is a very simple one, and is this: We admire them, we envy them, for great qualities we ourselves lack.””

He added: “People often want to do good, but like most of us leave it at that. They are troubled by hungry people but go no further than concern. They grate at inequality but don’t translate idea into deed. They want to make a contribution to their society but halt at good intention.”

At that point, something sparked in me, and trust me, it’s not joy. It is more of a rueful admission. And that spark is “good intention”. We halt at good intention. 

Mind you, the road to hell may be paved with good intention, but so is heaven. We must not forget that. 

It’s not about good intention so much as it is about how far we are prepared to take (or journey) with it. That is, all the way? To be in the center of the ring (of responsibility), where we fight a good fight regardless of how long it takes? 

Or, do we want to just feel good about good intention, and stay warmly tucked in with the crowd, or spectator, cheering others on, living life from one vicarious episode to another?

I believe no one has ever been ennoblised by intentions. They are remembered by actions, that is, consistent broken down steps, forward-pursuing ones, that bring one closer to his or her worthy goals. 

I recall that big shots are small shots that keep shooting, a match that keeps lighting, a drop that keeps dripping, and a spirit that keeps fighting. 

Maybe, that - in a less-pedantic nutshell - is the spirit of excellence - Ordinary lives doing extraordinary things without ceasing. 

That is where the 13 of them come in. We have a blood donor, an inspiring teacher, two selfless rescuers, a food donor, a couple who make a home in the hearts of those young people the society has forgotten, and many more. 

They inspire us because they pull us in another direction, a road less travelled. 

In a society that is conditioned to strive, to win, to outbid, to outdo, and to acquire and accumulate, these nominees are like salmons swimming against the grain or flow of our most basic natural desire.

Admittedly, President Halimah puts it best when she said: -

“The daily humdrum of our existence, mired in work and other responsibilities, has not deadened our souls, and we find nourishment in helping others. The human spirit remains undaunted, and the stories of the nominees are clear examples of the betterment of others, so long as we have the heart to do so. We don’t have to wait for others to show the way. If all of us do our part, no matter how small, we will collectively become an indefatigable force for good.”

I know it is difficult at this moment to imagine a society where we “collectively become an indefatigable force for good” in a world whose materialist culture is seeped in a collective (in default) force for self-attention and enrichment. 

But let me end with this Talmud-inspired thought: -

“He who save a single life, saves the entire world.”

I know one may take that as saving our neighbour, one life at a time, and making that difference, and if everyone does it, the world would be a better place. 

But, I take it as saving our own life. 

Alas, the greatest struggle is not the world out there, it is and has always been the world within. It is a vast world, a world of frenzy monologuing, a world of persuasions and dissuasions, of reprimanding and indulging, of regrets and apathy. 

We fight a good fight when we come out of that innermost struggle on a daily basis with a resolve to be faithful, truthful, humble, consistent, and self-correcting, learning to do and be better. It is about raising above our nature. It is about being a light to a darkened world. 

That is my definition of an excellent spirit, that is, we save a life by saving ourselves.

Ps: indeed, it is always about us, because it starts with us.