Sunday Supplement #40 (February 13th, 2022)
Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.
I hope you take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!
Quote of the Week:
“Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them.”
– Bruce Lee
Book of the Week:
Can’t Hurt Me – David Goggins
I featured David Goggins in the brainfood section of Sunday Supplement #35. In that post, I gave a brief summary of Goggins’s history for the United States Armed Forces and his subsequent journey as one of the world’s top endurance athletes.
The accompanying video in that Supplement is an interview with Goggins on The Rich Roll Podcast. Check out the video, and if you like it, check out this book.
Can’t Hurt Me is a mixture between a self-help/personal development book and an autobiography. Goggins uses stories of his past to show how one can overcome obstacles to create the person one wants to be.
Goggins grew up with poverty, abuse, and racism. He failed at various points in different areas but decided to turn his life around. He went from being overweight and depressed to becoming the only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller.
This book is an excellent insight into how much control we have over our minds and bodies. You don’t have to become an ultra-endurance athlete after reading it, but there is much to take away and learn from.
Movie of the Week:
The 1984 film Amadeus won eight Oscars and is considered one of the best movies in Cinema history.
The film tells a fictional story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart through the eyes of a rival composer, Antonio Salieri. The bitter rival reflects on the career of the genius composer and claims that he was the one who murdered him.
Amadeus was adapted from the stage play of the same name by screenwriter Peter Shaffer. Miloš Forman directed the film, and F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce starred as Salieri and Mozart.
Every name above won their respective Oscar, except for Hulce because he was nominated in the same category as Abraham. The film also won Best Picture.
Amadeus currently sits at #82 on IMDB’s Top Rated Movies list and boasts above a 90% in both critics and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes.
Add this movie to your list if you’re looking for an excellent (lengthy) biopic/period piece. It’s one of my favorite films and has an epic soundtrack.
Brainfood of the Week:
Einzelgänger | Taoism – The Power of Letting Go
In Sunday Supplement #20, I featured an Einzelgänger video as the brainfood of the week. The channel creates videos that explore different people and ideas of history with the aim of making content that inspires, resonates, and entertains.
In this video, Einzelgänger discusses the idea of control in our modern society. He then offers an insight into Taoism and its philosophy of letting go.
The first way of Taoism Einzelgänger highlights is the art of non-doing. He breaks it down to knowing when to act and when not to. Control can be what combats effortless action or a flow state. And while control isn’t always a bad thing, like self-control, too much suffocates growth.
Embracing change is the next topic in the video. “The Living are soft and yielding; the dead are rigid and stiff. Living plants are flexible and tender; the dead are brittle and dry.” —Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, 11.
Not focussing on outcomes is one of the last areas Einzelgänger goes over. When we focus too much on the future, we tend to paralyze ourselves in the present with anxiety.
Einzelgänger goes into greater depth with these philosophies, and the beautiful video is well worth checking out. I provide the above to give a glimpse at what the video offers, but give it a watch and see if you take anything away from it.
Closing Spiritual Passage:
“It is by Allah’s mercy that you are gentle to them, and had you been harsh and hard-hearted, surely they would have scattered from around you. So excuse them, and plead for forgiveness for them, and consult them in the affairs, and once you are resolved, put your trust in Allah.”
– Surah Ali ‘Imran 3:159
In this passage from the Quran, I’m reminded of the power of forgiveness. The two statements show the possibility of alienation if you’re too harsh and the power of resolution if you seek to forgive.
I believe that forgiveness can be for yourself as well as others. If we are too hard on ourselves or repress any negative feelings around ourselves or others, we lose the opportunity for catharsis.
For me, the most important thing is to see and acknowledge what is happening with an open mind. Look to resolve the situation and trust that everything will be okay.
I believe, if you approach situations with others of yourself in this way, regardless of if you believe in God or not, you can find peace and move forward.
Forgive yourself and someone else, and have a blessed week ahead!
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