When you are required to exhibit strength, it comes

~ Live & Learn

joseph-campbell

“Nietzsche was the one who did the job for me. At a certain moment in his life, the idea came to him of what he called ‘the love of your fate.’ Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say, ‘This is what I need.’ It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment—not discouragement—you will find the strength is there. Any disaster that you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege! This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow.

Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You’ll see that this is really true. Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes.”

“Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer.  His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience. His philosophy is often summarized by his phrase: “Follow your bliss.”  He was born in New York City in 1904, and from early childhood he became interested in mythology. He loved to read books about American Indian cultures, and frequently visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where he was fascinated by the museum’s collection of totem poles. Campbell was educated at Columbia University, where he specialized in medieval literature, and continued his studies at universities in Paris and Munich. While abroad he was influenced by the art of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, the novels of James Joyce and Thomas Mann, and the psychological studies of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. These encounters led to Campbell’s theory that all myths and epics are linked in the human psyche, and that they are cultural manifestations of the universal need to explain social, cosmological, and spiritual realities.”  (Sources: Wiki & Amazon)

Source: Journal of A Nobody.  Joseph Campbell portrait: TheStrengthsFoundation.org

22 thoughts on “When you are required to exhibit strength, it comes”

  3. Ah… Love both of them.. On second thoughts Joseph Campbell has it over Nietzsche for me. Great post David. Re blogging.

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  5. I really like Joseph Campbell…but those words made me think today about “the love of your fate.” I’ve been trying to be supportive and help a friend who is battling cancer. It’s hard to really feel those words in my friend’s instance. He looks to me for something positive, all the time, and it’s really tearing my heart apart to try and be strong and to see in each day whatever it is that I can give to my friend that will be positive…with all that is happening. “The love of your fate”…is truly difficult sometimes. I do still believe though in finding strength out of the hardship…and in keeping the light inside alive, no matter what happens.

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  6. I am with him. When years pass by only then are we going to realize if we pay attention that all the headaches and heartaches were there to strengthen us and to help us accomplish what we need.

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