Louis L’Amour Self-Awareness Humility

“ A man’s life always starts today.  Every morning is a beginning, a fresh start, and a man needn’t be hog-tied to the past.  Whatever went before, a man’s life can begin now, today.”  Milo Talon, p. 21

             This is a very, very important perception.  Each day, each moment is an opportunity.  An opportunity to suffer and struggle.  But also, an opportunity to achieve, to persist, to enjoy, to exalt, to appreciate even the most simple pleasures, to grab this very moment.  It was never and never will be again.  It exists only now.  Nevermore.

 No matter how good a man can become, there is always, somewhere, a better.

The Mountain Valley War p 61

While this is true, it is neither wrong nor vain to set as a goal to be the best.  If

you don’t have a goal, you certainly will not achieve it.  By the same token, if you become highly skilled, always remember that there may be someone better such that you may as well retain your humility.

 “Never was a horse that couldn’t be rode, an’ there never was a rider who couldn’t be throwed.”

High Lonesome, p. 13

             Along the same lines, no matter how smart, sharp, strong we are or think we might be, there is always someone who is more gifted.  Accept that as opposed to resenting it.  One can and should strive to be the best, recognizing that attaining that is unlikely.  Still, if you set your goals low, you will never achieve greater heights.

There was a tennis player I knew of who, upon being ranked fifth in the world after many years of work, stepped back and looked at his situation.  His observation was that things were pretty good.  He had a good life:  Notoriety, celebrity, money.  He was very successful.  Not bad.  Upon that moment, when he accepted his place and status, he never climbed any higher.  Once you accept a place, that will be as high or as good as you every become.

I am, by many standards, “old” as I write this. Nevertheless, even I attack each day with optimism and vigor, giving the best I have to improve and challenge myself.

Louis L’Amour MEANING OF LIFE

THE MEANING OF LIFE

“To survive? What is that? A mouse lives, a fly lives… They exist, they are, but do they live? To challenge the fates, that is the thing! To ride the storm, to live daringly, to live nobly, not wasting one’s life on foolish, silly risks, or ruining the brain with too much wine or hashish.
Let me hold a sword and die beside a man!”
Walking Drum, p. 416

The Existential articulation of this concept is that the meaning of life is “To
live, to Exist, to Be”. I would add “and to Achieve”. To do, to be active and involved in one’s activities and actions is what it is all about. It is not what you take with you. It is what you do with your time while you are here. A man is defined by what he does.

“Life, he decided, was never a question of accumulating material things, nor in the struggle for reputation, but in the widening and deepening of perception, increasing the sensitivity of the faculties, of an awareness of the world in which one lives.”
Flint, p. 154

“It isn’t the goal. It’s the journey.” We shouldn’t always be looking toward
the morrow and to what we perceive will be the next best thing. We should look to and at the present. It is the now that we have. We should make the most of each moment!
We are passing through an age where money seems to be of more importance
than other values. However, if you look back to those individuals we do remember and revere, it is because of what they did, not how much they made.
To material things and especially wealth, we tend to ascribe great importance.
However, a good question might be to ask yourself who, other than Midas, do you recall because he was rich? We can name heroes who are remembered for their accomplishments. Who, if anyone, is remembered for his wealth?

“To each of us is given a life. To live with honor and to pass on having left our mark, it is only essential that we do our part, that we leave our children strong. Nothing exists long when its time is past. Wealth is important only to the small of mind. The important thing is to do the best on can with what one has.”
Hondo, p. 86

Following on this theme, this is very important and, unfortunately, largely
ignored observation/value today. We are all together on this small planet. Within the next few years, scientific genetics will be able to prove our relationship to each other within “x” generations. We will realize that we have common ancestors and kinship. As with Cain and Able, no doubt we will continue wars over greed and power. However, authentic prejudice should be less “justifiable”. We are all one unique species, fortunate to be able to live our lives on this wondrous planet.
How long this planet will continue to support our species is a serious question and should be an equally serious concern. Give our technology and our ability to communicate and store knowledge, we should be in a position to influence our futures. Personally, I am doubtful that we will address climate change before a major disaster comes to pass such as in Florida literally going under water. Then we may wake up and take real action. But, we run the risk of going the way of Easter Islanders and the Mayans. Over population and under resourced. Sad and unnecessary.

“CHANNELING” LOUIS L’AMOUR On Knowledge

“What did a father have to pass on to his children but his own personal reaction to the world?  Of what use was experience if one could not pass on at least a little of what one has learned?”

North to the Rails, p. 31

 ON KNOWLEDGE

 “The mind is a basket.  If you put nothing in, you get nothing out.”  The Walking Drum, p. 412

           The way we put knowledge into our brain is to study.  We must study real subjects and good literature.  If the subject matter is not challenging, the likelihood is that it is not providing any significant exercise to our grey matter.

In this era of nearly infinite access to immediate factual knowledge through the internet, the opportunity of self-actualization is greatly increased.  Obviously, there are layers.  One may choose to scan the superficial summaries or go to original sources and studies. There is no substitute. This is the preferred and more reliable process.

 “A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner, so if one’s life is cold and bare he can blame none but himself.  You have a chance to select some pretty elegant furnishings.”  Bendigo Shafter, p. 139

One of my favorite stories I would tell my students in a class I taught is that on the “outside”, after they are finished with school, they no longer would be competing against their peers but against all ages and experience levels.  Furthermore, no one will be asking where they went to school or their class ranking.  Rather, they will be judged by what they know and how prepared they are on that particular day and in that situation.

To that end, life is like the tortoise in the race with the hare.  Most professions take ten years to learn the foundation of your specialty.  Thereafter, changes take place and evolve, literally, daily.  We live in a very transitory period.  The race goes to he who reads and studies the evolving intricacies of the profession regularly.  To be at the top, one must work chronically and forever.  All professions are accumulated knowledge over time.

The lesson and moral, therefore, is not just to commit to a week or month of intensive study.  Rather, one must commit to a lifetime of investigation, study, practice and intellectual exploration.  When you compete all the schooling they allow, you are only now ready to go forward on a personalized and independent study program that should take you your entire lifetime.  Do that and you will be both skilled, smart and likely successful!