Everything Failing At The Same Time?
Well, I failed. In an email I sent my followers, I focused on my constant urge to seek out pain and suffering. I can report back to you that I did not complete, "The Project". I can now officially plan my retirement party. Also, is it just me or does it seem like every institution, like the CAF, is failing all at once? Read until the end to find out why.
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This Week's Health Sitrep
Hard AF Quote of The Week
"Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not 'This is misfortune,' but 'To bear this worthily is good fortune"? - Marcus Aurelius
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I Found My Limit
I got completely smoked in under 12 hours during "The Project".
When I saw this project a few months ago, I immediately knew I had to test myself with it. So, I trained hard for 5 months, lost 11 pounds, dropped 4% body fat and smashed all my gym PRs.
I figured I could bang this one out and it would be another hard thing I've done to add to the list.
I was humbled.
I realized that I don't have this "gear" anymore. The speed, endurance and strength weren't there. Out of 20, only 7 finished. Mad respect for anyone who gets through that.
You can watch on IG where it all went "downhill" for me.
Failing
I purposefully set myself up for potential failure. Other than the project there's starting two businesses, doing the Ironman, getting married, starting a podcast, writing books, joining the infantry and many more throughout my life.
I hate failing though. But I also realize how important it is to take on challenges. If you don't push the envelope you miss the chance to grow. You stay small.
As the old expression goes, "The pain of regret is far greater than the pain of discipline."
Is The CAF Collapsing?
I recently posted a new video about troops not being fed over a year, in Ottawa. Just the headline alone is face-palm-inducing. But it's almost like stories like this pop up every week.
How's this possible?
The Fourth Turning
It seems like the whole ship is sinking (literally ships are sinking in the CAF too), along with every other institution. I posit that this is inevitable and can be explained a lot better by using the concepts presented by Strauss and Howe in their book, The Fourth Turning.
They describe full civilization cycles in "turnings" and there are typically four of them lasting a total of 80-90 years. They are:
According to this theory, we're in the "Crisis" turning where, "[this] is an era of destruction, often involving war or revolution, in which institutional life is destroyed and rebuilt in response to a perceived threat to the nation's survival."
This is all predicated on a cycle of centralization moving towards decentralization as well. So amid this massive shift, things like the CAF can't keep up and fall apart and fail. So does the education system, the judiciary, banks and so on and so on.
So if you feel like everything is failing and falling apart, you're not wrong.
To quote my favourite Sci-Fi series, Battlestar Galactica
"All this has happened before, all this will happen again"
No Food For The Troops?
To further bring home the message that the CAF is falling apart, listen to my latest episode about troops not being fed for a year in Ottawa.
Watch the entire episode on The Hard To Kill Podcast
Have a great week
THFE
Dave