In my youth, we were told that during the revolution, "thousands
and tens of thousands" (成千上万) martyrs sacrificed their
lives for their Communist Faith. Growing up, I heard Western
movie speeches in the same spirit, e.g.,
- William Wallace (Brave Heart): They may take our lives but
they'll never take our freedom!
- Gandhi (Gandhi): They will then have my dead body -- not
my obedience.
- Proximo (The Gladiator): Ultimately, we're all dead men, sadly
we cannot choose how, BUT we can decide how we meet
that end in order that we are remembered as men.
These were warriors in the violent past. But even in the golden
time like ours, the calmness might be a facade for "Everyone
is fighting a battle you know nothing about." So the questions
came: What am I fighting for? What's my battle about?
This morning, I went out for a routine 5-mile run with the
thought: "What's the hurry?" After a proper warmup and slow
start, I entered The Zone. Big strides came effortlessly at mile
3, and so did a thought: My job may be eliminated, by AI, e.g.;
my life will be taken away, by nature, in the end; meanwhile,
I intend to keep my health.
