Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

Being a victim is now looked upon as a badge of honor. But if we wish to flourish and become what Nietzsche called “the true helmsman of our existence” (Nietzsche, Untimely Meditations), we need to separate ourselves from this powerless spirit of the age, assume responsibility for our life, and learn to face up to what is presented to us.
To achieve this feat psychological resilience is crucial. We must learn how to emerge from the challenges of life not weaker and more apathetic, as the perpetual victim does, but stronger and wiser… Many shy away from this practice believing that meditating on the dark side of life will breed a dark pessimism. For after all, isn’t it better to remain on the sunnier side of life? It appears that in becoming aware and more accepting of the darker possibilities of life, we not only cultivate resilience, but also become more fully alive. https://academyofideas.com/2019/02/psychology-of-resilience/

“To be nobody-but-yourself – in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else–means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.” (E.E. Cummings, A Miscellany)

The Psychology of Authenticity