A review by catalystcafe
Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life by Eric Greitens

5.0

“More often, a closed mind is a product of fear.  Certain believes are as central to our thinking as the pillars that support a cathedral. We use these beliefs to hold up our own conception of ourselves and to justify our place in the world. We’re afraid that if we question their strength, the world around us might collapse.” (pg 200)

“Good mentors respect complexity. But because they’ve learned to separate essentials from distractions, they can offer clarity.” (pg 224)

“When it comes to creativity, people often focus on freedom from. They think they’d be more creative if they were only free from constraints, from interference, from obligations. We’d do better to spend as much time thinking about freedom too. You can be free from rules and obligations, but that doesn’t make you free to create. You can, for example, be free from rules and still not have mastery over yourself. You have freedom to when you can say, ‘I am my own master’ … some freedom can only be won through self-mastery.” (pg 253)

This book was an unexpected gem. It admittedly took me several months to read, partially because each page had so much wisdom to digest. Based on letters written between two ex-Navy SEAL members, it’s two friends talking about their experiences and what to do next, and is full of kindness as the letters are to a friend who is struggling with normal life after being in the combat zone and has resorted to alcoholism. His friend gently reminds him to be resilient, to integrate his pain (not ignore it), and talks about how the right perspective on their experiences gives them hard won wisdom. But it’s also about trying to be the person you want to be now, instead of waiting for a perfect future.

I miss Walker and Greitens already and they are the perfect example of strong men with the right outlets for the tough things they have had to face.