The Indomitable Human Spirit

I never know what to expect when pursuing this journey of incremental growth, but I am always pleasantly surprised at the end of the day with what I end up finding.

“But man is not made for defeat, he said. “A man can be destroyed, but not defeated.” - Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and The Sea

Our current moment in American history will be looked upon by future scholars for many, many reasons, but my ultimate hope is that the loudest message becomes one of resiliency and about our indomitable human spirit. Right now, things are being destroyed, but we are not defeated. We have hope in one another, and we have a collective voice, unified towards a common goal. Change will come as long as we do not allow ourselves to be defeated.

You never know when inspiration will hit you. Today, mine came from a simple reflective walk. This particular walk was guided by, Dr. Tommy Rivers Puzey, or as many affectionately know him as, Tommy Rivs. Rivs speaks about the above quote with a sense of optimism regarding our human ability to overcome and survive, an optimism that in more difficult times can be extremely hard to come by, or even pushed away. However, we all need to find our lighthouse in those hard times to help signal ourselves to safety after a long journey on rough seas. If you have not followed Tommy’s journey, I will not spoil it for you, but I highly encourage you to take 5 minutes of your time and take a look for yourself, as it might put your own circumstances into a different perspective.

Speaking of finding your own lighthouse, often times, learning from others that authentically inspire me towards growth is mine. I love to learn, and I believe the more I can expand my mind into this world, the more it opens up to me. It is easy, during hard times, to slowly miss how small our worlds can become. They can become these tiny, fear-based boxes that feel claustrophobic damn near anywhere you try to stand. Learning, reading, expanding, and exploring are all ways I know how to knock those walls down. My hope is that just some of that can speak to you in these moments, to hopefully encourage some exploration and adventure of your own.

In short summary, we humans have a unique ability to impact the world around us in ways never thought possible. My goal in this life, like Tommy has done for me, even though we have never met, spoken, or otherwise, is to make a lasting positive impact. My hope is that maybe one day to be able to do that for one of you in return.

Stay resilient,

Tyler.