To borrow a wondrously inspiring quote from Hunter S. Thompson: “When the going gets weird…the weird turn pro.”

Be the weird professional you want to see in the world

Well, this is going to be a strained effort, as I am in the worst possible mood I can be, but I must still find a way to write a words of wisdom and have it posted by midnight, so let’s see what we’re capable of.

I think the original plan was to detail something called “North Star Philosophy”, which was a bit of a metaconcept, involving directionality, purpose, and reason in always finding your way during times of dismay. I know not everyone works this way necessarily, but I’ve had to frame a lot of how I carry myself in the everyday based on rigorous discipline involving strengthening a rational core to help carry one through the day. This required a ridiculous amount of stress testing, as the only way to accomplish this is through the rigors of yielding vulnerability to brutilization of emotional elements, I.E.;, putting oneself out there and getting hurt. Like a lot of practices in life, the more one does it, the better one will get at being able to “weather the storm”, as it were, in this case, having ones rationality overpower their sense of emotional proclivities to become rampant when seized with a powerful flux of rampant energy, in response to the harsh realities of the everyday. No easy task, and is perhaps, one if the most grim forms of self-discipline I’ve shared in Words of Wisdom, cause it truly requires a form of psychological torture on some level, as the only way to harden one’s response mechanisms, is to never shy away from painful truths, threatening scenarios, and otherwise ego damaging exchanges, which can help to fundamentally break a person.

Luckily, all of this is just apart of my own personal example of a North Star Philosophy to follow when I’m down and out, so you don’t necessarily have to put yourself through the same form of psychological rigors to detail your own, but I thought it wise to share the notion of how I cultivated my own, to give you a sense on just how powerfully brightly shining that North Star needs to be, to be seen even on the darkest nights, and the foggiest of conditions, in the most trying of circumstances, to really qualify as a North Star as such. To reiterate; my North Star in this case is a rational core, which helps to cut through all of the ghastly bullshit that comes with the downsides and aftereffects of pain felt involving emotional responses, in order to keep a clear head and keep going, no matter what. Perhaps, with your personal North Star, that actually borrows or pulls from your emotional state, citing it as one of your greatest strengths, instead of a debilitating weak point you have trouble contending with. Whatever means most to you, and represents your greatest motivator in life, can be utilized as your North Star.

Once you have that down and crystal clear, all one really has to do is condition oneself to never lose sight of it, keep it front and center in their mind at all times, and put themselves through the ringer, and make sure no matter what, that North Star will lead you to your way of success, in pulling you out of the hole you’re in, to not just live to fight another day, but to just either get you back on your feet, or if it’s a really dire scenario, just even giving you the power to start crawling. When emotional pain becomes too overbearing, it can be near impossible to move an inch, let alone will yourself to get anything done that day, so finding ways to prevent yourself from giving into that nothingness, might end up being one of your greatest assets and more resilient strengths in times of need.

This is most certainly a vital metaskill one can have in their everyday, and a metaphysical resource one should hone to have at their disposal to help reinforce all of their other skills, as qualities like having a stubbornness in not giving up, or a strong will to keep fighting, is essential in providing some well needed padding for a lot of other qualities to continue functioning, when other parts of the body and mind are ceasing to function correctly at all. These types of elements are super easy to forget to focus on, as for the most part, the everyday is usually at least tolerable, and going relatively pain-free, and low stress…one hopes, anyways. To that point, when it is going a lot better, one forgets to prepare for the worst case scenario, and develop emergency response tactics, in helping to refine their ability in “bracing for impact”, as it were. That is why I advocate for strengthening your rational core, as having a strong base for the tough times to come, but at the very least, advocate to pour time and energy into your own “North Star Philosophy”, as it may be just the thing you need to find your way back to a place you know, when lost in the emotional wilds.

As always, take care of yourself, and others.

-Pashford