August 16th, 2024
-photo of Neil Armstrong
The necessity of fucking up slightly at times when so much weight rides on success proves that perfection does not always yield the best result. Iteration requires deviation. The only way up is through. Determining what is useful and what is perilous comes down to informed choices. Things will always go wrong. Solving for the positives will provide useful deviation in our goals. It has the capacity to provide results and data which exceed or improve the rate of iteration toward any pursuit, such as building a house, a rocket or sending men or women toward their dreams. What does it take to achieve that which fills ones eyes with burning fire? How do we stop arbitrary improvements to remain steadfast in our aims of victory.? What prices do we pay along the way and how does our attitude toward achieving greatness affect the outcome?
Tragedy has a seditious way of striking down those among us most protected, as well as, sadly, those with the least the lose. Such an impassioned and perilous thing as adventure will not come without obstacles. Tragedy remains the greatest hurdle. This hurdle is not a physical one nor is it one that can be redeemed. As much as you try, you cannot replace what is lost. Even the new, is never quite the old. The past stands there asking what could've been. The present marches on and finds ease in accepting the chaos of the world back into its entropic nebula. The grief of losing whatever descends into this pit creates a deep sadness. Despite such loss, the nature of hope commands itself with an omnipotent force. There is much to look forward to and we must always embrace the possibility rather than what exists behind us.
Victory is a sweet, delicious thing which can compare with little else in life. The purest prides that are possible are the successful and precise execution of a task which results in vocational mission accomplished. Be it art, culture, medicine, law, construction, politics; all applies. We are all gifted and bestowed with strengths which offer not only the victory of our courses but those greater courses working beside you across this world.
We need to fail down here, so we don't fail up there.
Contingency statement in event of tragedy: Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.
Statement of victory: "There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as of yet, its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. but. Why the moon, why chose this goal? Why climb the highest mountain? Why fly the Atlantic, why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon, we choose to go the moon! We choose to go the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills. Because that challenge is the one we are willing to accept, the one, we are unwilling to postpone.
In the pursuit of our goals we will make both statements. We will cherish the wins and hope to learn from the devastation we leave behind. Throughout it all, if you are lucky, you will find people who love you. If not, you may become a philosopher... As life burns along , those we have loved remind us of who we do these things for. Their faces will flash before you, their laughs, those lazy afternoons when their smiles wore no traced weathering of passing storms, nor reflect any memory of melancholy. They will always remain beautiful in those moments and such depth of stable awe is possible when you welcome and cherish those who believe in you. Sharing defeats with those we love helps us all to remain focused and supported toward our higher ideals.
Regardless of the failures that have made you, or which surround us all everyday, the consistent drive to overcome only who we may have once been, will shield you with the aura of improvement forever. 1% better a day begins to compound very quickly. Have faith, carry on, only you can carry your boats. The boards and the nails, the boats have a mast and sails, but without putting them to ocean they'll wither in the hailstorms. Without your action and attention you must clutch your rudder, hoist your main halyard, raise your sail, set sea to your dream and rest only when you start repelling what is easy.
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