“Know your enemy and know
yourself for you can fight a hundred battles without defeat.” –Sun Tzu, Art of
War
Ancient China witnessed
the political cunning and tactical ingenuity of Sun Tzu. His book Art of War
has transcended time which helped formed the greatest generals, warriors,
leaders and even ordinary men. This is far by one of my favorite books ever written.
Though his book is
considered to be a book for political strategy, there are useful insights that
can be applied in all aspects of life.
What do war, dreams and
love have in common? All of them can be related to a battlefield.
War
Last weekend, I decided to
watch historical movies for a change. (since I always watch romance, comedy and
action movies lol) Amongst the movies I watched, Hannibal is the best movie
that day. All historical books would revere and would label Hannibal as one of
the greatest military figures in history.
Not only did he shake and
threaten the political stability of the Roman power in the Mediterranean but he
also showed how it is to defy the odds, to go beyond what your fate dictates
and to finally seal your name in the annals of history.
Through his brilliance in
military strategies, his Roman enemies were often left confused, agitated and
provoked. Baffled with his famous “always-do-the-less-thought-of-option”, the
Romans ended up incurring great and terrible losses. The biggest of which is
the Battle of Cannae where thousands of Roman soldiers died.
Dreams
While watching the movie,
I let my thoughts wander for a moment. I was thinking. How could a man with
limited military resources can pose major threat against the Roman Army?
Hannibal surpassed his own
limits and outwitted the Romans when he decided to cross the Alps instead of
fighting them by sea. He opted to fight by land for he knew quite well that
Romans have strong naval advantage.
For months, they suffered
from long travels without food, they endured the long and cold winter nights, they
walked for a thousand miles until they finally set foot on Roman soil.
All of these made me think
a little bit more. Sometimes, I guess, most often, I would fret and complain
and whine about my present circumstances. I find myself being more impatient
than ever. My logical reasoning would always attempt to disguise as valued
excuses for me not to strive more, not to work harder. But just like Hannibal, I start to remember
the importance of pushing myself to the edge of my limitations. There are no limits but my own. My vision for the future starts to get clearer.
Many people will try to
pull you down. They would do anything to stop you, to discourage you to achieve
your dreams. But if it is something you have have been dreaming of, if it is something
you have ever wanted all your life, you have to protect it. You need to try and
try until the only last option is to just let things be and let fate do its
work.
Love
The same thing goes with
love. In the movie, Hannibal said, “Your greatest strength can also be your
greatest weakness.” I’ve always been strong and proud in this aspect. Deep
down, I have continuously allowed my thoughts, my rationale mind to dominate my
feelings, my heart in general. For years, my mind has succeeded to do what it
is supposed to do.
But no matter how hard I try to protect myself, there were
times where I ended up wounded and hurt and where I feel like the most
plausible thing to do is to just give up and not care about it anymore. Then I realize, remaining complacent will do no good either. I must learn to
stand up, to fight again and to learn again. In this aspect, I can say I am now
willing to share it with the The One. My mind has coalesced with my heart in
saying that I can have the love I need without suppressing my feelings and
without compromising my raison d'être.
War, dreams and love are
different settings of battles with useful lessons to teach- to continuously fight,
to endlessly dream and to humbly love until your last breath. You have to know
yourself for you to have the capacity to love someone. You need to experience
your own weakness to discover your strengths. You need to fight your own battle
to experience your own victory. Lastly, you need to find yourself to find God.
P.S
Im sharing to you a short music playlist of some of my best instrumental movie themes.
P.S
Im sharing to you a short music playlist of some of my best instrumental movie themes.
Create a playlist at MixPod.com
9 comments
interesting post
ReplyDeletethe question here is are you ready to find him?
ReplyDelete@dave: thanks!
ReplyDelete@ria: ready to find who?lol
Grabe ka naman char ang sipag to maintain such a blog at galing mo magsulat
ReplyDeleteYou can write with beauty and dexterity. Yan ba ang walang time hahaha peace char!
ReplyDeleteI thought ur busy eh? lol Jk alam ko this is really your hobby.pagkakitaan mo nalang kaya tong blog mo.what do you think?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteeto pa pala "War, dreams and love are different settings of battles with one lesson to teach- to continuously fight, to endlessly dream and to humbly love until your last breath. " super luvveeeettt
ReplyDeleteomg overwhelming support?ahaha indeed, you guys are my friends lol
ReplyDelete@LA: its my way to release stress kasi :D
@risa: mind you i draft my thoughts whenever i eat lol
@achimae: nye hirap nun im not as good as other writers.but if given the chance why not?
@anonymous: pwd mglagay ng name!! haha hindi kta mahulaan kng snu ka but i have an idea :D