Think like a Roman: Part two

Marcus Aurelius says...

Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.

I was speaking with my brother about our experiences as children a few days ago and, as always, was struck by the similarities and differences.

This particular brother is only five years younger than I, but the experiences he had growing up were so much different to my own and despite also having had a reasonably difficult time of it as a brown kid growing up in an otherwise completely white small rural town in Australia he (fortunately) never went through what I did.

As I've said a few times before, I was terribly racially victimised from the moment I went to kindergarten as a four year old and then into my school years.

Being spat on, called all sorts of derogatory names, having my things taken and thrown around the play yard, being kicked, pushed and punched and generally ostracised by everyone, including some of the teachers, didn't make for a very happy time for me... But I've also said it built character, taught me a lot about human nature, helped build a strong sense of protectiveness over those who cannot protect themselves, and a great propensity to act decisively to address those doing the wrong thing...this has come out in many ways over my life, most of which didn't go so well for the target, and it even comes through in my activities with bad actors here on Hive.

I'm the man I am today for many reasons, but what I endured as a young kid has a lot to do with it and my sense of honour and integrity is based on the experiences I had.

Today, I selected this quote because it means a lot to me, and through living it I have managed to get through much of what occurred in my life as a child and managed to thrive moving forward into adulthood.

It essentially means that we, as individuals, have the ability to breathe life into the feelings and emotions we have due to other people's behaviour or actions towards us or to take it away - we have the power to let things hurt us or not.

I'll admit that there is an aspect to it that I don't agree with because the injury doesn't go away altogether, but it can diminish over time to a point where it is negated allowing us to move on and function as we choose to, irrespective of what has been done to us. I believe the quote is a better turn of phrase than the old adage, sticks and stones may brake my bones but words will never hurt me. I call bullshit on that one because words can fucken destroy a person, I know this first hand.

I know who I am, who and what I am not and who and what I strive to be - I believe it is important for all of us to know these things, accept and understand them and to find the courage and fortitude to work towards making appropriate changes.

I'm a strong man in many ways, resolute, steadfast, a rock (sometimes a very hard-headed and bloody stubborn one) and a man who can take action even should that action be incredibly difficult but there's other facets of me that I value (as do a few others) also and it's all of those things combined that make up...me.

What happened to me as a kid and how I dealt with it has contributed to the creation of me as a person. Sure, I didn't feel this way at the time, I was a broken, sad little fellow sometimes, but something in me rejected the hurts, the knocks and the injuries that were inflicted upon me - I didn't know at the time, but back then as a little kid I was applying the words of Marcus Aurelius above, and somehow I eventually became the me of today with all the facets and elements combing towards what and who I've become.

I believe, through rejecting the sense of injury I could have felt, difficult though it was, I've been able to dust off a little after being knocked down, to find courage, integrity and the ability to do hard things. I use the phrase lift heavy shit, because that's what I guess it really is...only, the stuff we lift isn't always physical right?

🔘 🔘 🔘

If you have any thoughts on this quote, the topic in general, the words I write or what they make you feel yourself, then please feel free to comment. If you have any stories of your own, you feel comfortable to share, than please also do so.