You Need a Worthy Enemy

You need a purpose.

Because we are mortal, we know we can die. But because we are part divine, we suspect we won’t. So we are attracted to safety and comfort – pushing off until tomorrow what should be done today. 

So Time – our constant nemesis – wins as long as it runs the clock out on us. Time doesn’t care if we fight or not. Time doesn’t care if we love or are loved.

So what should you do if you need a purpose worthy of your only life? 

First, you should unburden yourself from the friends and daily habits you know aren’t worth the energy – pick two today. Two bad friends can damage you more than a single mediocre enemy. But what if it’s not the right time to fight? You must fight your challenger while you still can. Before you lose the energy you do have. Before your mind fades. Before you get too busy with life and tragedies. Before your own tumor arrives. And it always will.

"Two bad friends can damage you more than a single mediocre enemy."

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Next, choose the highest, most formidable adversary you can and attack it. It’s that hidden enemy you ignore—the one you least want to confront. The closer, the tougher. And if your foe happens to be hostile to someone you love, you have hope of divine power intervening. Proper hatred is directed in the defense of love, and you want to live in a proper fashion.

Thirdly, embrace lavishness.

"Send a hundred bullets when just one might do. Make a hundred cold calls to overcome that fear of rejection holding you back. For this is preparing you not just for becoming a man who fights but a man who can one day love. "

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How to Live a Life of Purpose as a Good Man

A good man who rightly loves and has a strong enough enemy will have all the resources and energy he needs. But he cannot rest. He must be savage. And if he fights with all he has, he gains the hope of a higher help than any man with a million friends. And that is the beginning of a real life. You are the light of the world. 

"The purpose of the light is to invade the darkness."

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The purpose of good is to invade evil. Pick a fight. Choose an adversary that is too difficult to beat as you are now. You’ll grow stronger as you love and learn.

"It’s not the winning that begins to make a man good, but the fighting for someone worth loving."

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Seek a worthy enemy and don’t hold back.