Suppose you're watching a movie...

Found on my telegram feed from Jan 31st.  Join me there.  Updates daily.

In every great myth, story, or film, the villain always gets the upper hand for a time and all seems lost. 
The villain always gets a chance to beat down the good guy and showcase their insatiable desire for power and control. They get to win for a time. They start doing really bad things to the good people in the story. You almost walk out of the theatre or throw the book out of the window because you can’t bear it and really want the happy ending. 

You decide to go a little further into the story at this stage because you really need to see some sort of resolution! You force yourself to stay awake a little longer just to see the tyrant fall so you can sleep soundly. 
This is why the really good ones are page turners. You deeply desire for good to triumph over evil, but you take pause because you wonder if this is one of those stories where evil finally wins. But then, just when all hope is lost, something unexpected occurs and the hero makes a shocking comeback and absolutely decimates the villain in some sort of extremely gratifying fashion so as to warn off all other wannabe villains. The day is saved. The wrongs are set right. You celebrate! You can’t wait to go through the adventure again. 

However, You realize it can never be the same the second time through now that you know for sure that victory is won in the end. In retrospect, the best part was the unknowing, the uncertainty and the suspense. That’s what made it an adventure worth sticking around for. You suddenly understand that if you always had foreknowledge of every story and how it ends, no book or film would be worth much to you. 

You then recommend the story to everyone you know and reference it for years to come in your various discussions, jokes and comparisons. You tell the story to your children. They tell theirs. Some of these stories are so good they last for centuries and are re-told in many variations to keep the power of the story alive. Only the brink of annihilation brings out the best hero’s and make the best epic stories. 

These stories are not just fables. 
The reason these stories have such a profound effect on you is because they convinced you to undergo a sort of simulated underworld experience. This process is very much a part of creating a new dimension of thought that can enrich your life in many ways. These stories teach you that only when all is lost, only when you doubt yourself or doubt the force of good, can you really understand your own mind or value what you have and who you are. Only when evil directly confronts you can you be your best good self. 

We are participating in a story like that in this time. This whole world is. Don’t lose hope. Don’t walk out of the theatre just yet. 
You are the hero.

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