A piece of wisdom from
November 17, 2020 · Tuesday
The quote
“We need to learn the slow yes and the quick no.”
— Tom Friel · The Power of No
The concept
Sisu
The Finnish word for the strength that shows up only when everything is gone.
Two hundred days of darkness a year. Forty below in winter. Russia next door. The Finns had to invent a word for the strength that shows up only when everything is gone, and they named it sisu. Sisu is not grit. Not resilience. Not courage.…
A practice for today
Before bed tonight, name one thing where the lesson of Sisu. The Finnish word for the strength that shows up only when everything is gone.
From the Bhagavad Gita
Verse 3.35
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्। स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः॥
“Better one's own dharma, even though imperfectly performed, than the dharma of another well performed. Better death in one's own dharma; the dharma of another is fraught with fear.”
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