Admiral James Stockdale was the highest ranking POW in the Vietnam War, he was held for 8 years and tortured brutally over 20 times. When he was asked which kind of prisoners perished in Vietnam, he said that is easy, it was the optimists. These were the prisoners who said they would be out by Christmas or Thanksgiving and those days would come and go and eventually enough milestones passed that they lost that essential faith needed to survive and die. The optimists failed to confront the the reality of their situation and when they were forced to do so it simply became too much for them.
Stockdale accepted the reality of the situation. He knew he was in hell but rather than failing to confront the reality of the situation he accepted it. He stepped up and did everything he could do to lift the morale and prolong the lives of fellow prisoners. He developed communication and milestones that help them communicate and survive. Here is the Stockdale Paradox:
You must retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties.
AND at the same time…
You must confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.
Here is the take away for you. YOU MUST COMBINE OPTIMISM (SINCERE BELIEF) WITH BRUTAL HONESTY AND A STRONG WILLINGNESS TO TAKE ACTION.
James Stockdale quote "I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”
Very important life lesson here. Face any trial you have head on and make them defining moments in your life. Bloody but unbowed.
Kick Ass - Love Dad
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