August 2
Rostam never tires. Through seven trials — lion, dragon, desert thirst — it is not strength alone that carries him, but the will that does not give up. The name lives as long as the backbone holds.
The Book of Kings (Shahnameh) (freely rendered)
Listening mode
Rostam never tires. Through seven trials — lion, dragon, desert thirst — it is not strength alone that carries him, but the will that does not give up. The name lives as long as the backbone holds.
From the outside, endurance often looks like tirelessness. Someone who keeps going seems never to feel tired. From the inside it is usually the other way round: you are tired and keep going anyway. That is exactly what no one can see by looking at you.
It gets difficult when others know you for this keeping going. Then you are the person others count on as soon as things get hard. A reputation like that is a good thing, but it also binds you. A break would suddenly no longer look like a break. It would seem like a breach of what you stand for.
This blurs a distinction that can hardly be drawn from the outside: whether you won’t give up or whether you aren’t allowed to stop. Both keep you upright. The one belongs to something that matters to you. The other belongs to an image others have of you, and which by now you defend yourself.
Sometimes the difference only shows once a task is actually over. You could sit down. And you notice that you are already looking for the next one.
