Comments on: It’s Not That I Don’t Suffer

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 22:59:30 +0000

You say this was one of your three favorite quotes from Atlas Shrugged… have you previously shared the other three?

By: mickslam

mickslam — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:47:51 +0000

In 1927, at the age of 32, bankrupt and jobless, living in inferior housing in Chicago, Illnois, he saw his beloved young daughter Alexandra die of pneumonia in winter. He felt responsible, and this drove him to drink and the verge of suicide. At the last moment he decided instead to embark on “an experiment, to find what a single individual can contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity.”

This is about Bucky Fuller (from a website I can’t recall, so credit to the unknown person who is responsible), I have this taped to my monitor at work. It drove me to join an alternative energy startup. We are in the process of signing a substantial 5 year PPA with an extremely large industrial consumer of electricity.

Lets just say, I had a bad year last year. Ok, it was horrible. I could have went into a shell, or do what I did. Pick myself up, dust off the shoulder, and begin.

By: Dave Jilk

Dave Jilk — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:44:43 +0000

Where this gets deeper is when combined with the concept of never faking reality, which can include your own psychological states. Because the *easiest* way to deal with suffering is denial, and this is most certainly NOT what Rand was saying here. If you’re suffering – that’s a reality – you have to acknowledge it, experience it, and deal with it, not pretend that you’re above it because you “know the unimportance of suffering.” The unimportance is a long-run philosophical unimportance.

By: Alex Jones

Alex Jones — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:42:55 +0000

Reminds me of the Scott Molina quote “Suffering is inevitable – misery is optional.”

…and now for an 8 miler along the South Shore of Bermuda to Tucker’s Town and back…

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:42:29 +0000

Blake, FrankinDenver, you both have a good point (Thanks FrankinDenver for the more gracious approach to criticism) but remember that Brad subsituted the word “failure” for “pain”. The post is not about the kind of suffering you are referring to–physical pain, extreme financial hardship, “real suffering”, as you call it. It’s about failure, specifically in entrepreneurship. Perhaps “suffering” is too strong a word in this context, but try to understand what he is really saying: failure hurts, but don’t let it get you down. Great post, Brad.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:40:01 +0000

‘a man’s reach should exceed his grasp’

but in order to figure out where the line is between grasp & non-grasp, you need to keep reaching… which means occasional, if not regular, failure.

thus, failure isn’t to be avoided… rather, it’s to be sought out as the defining limit of your ultimate potential.

great post brad.

By: FrankinDenver

FrankinDenver — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 06:31:13 +0000

I have to go with Blake (see above) on this one. You have a job that is clearly rewarding from both a psychic and financial perspective. You’re in such good physical shape that you can run 17.5 miles for recreation. While like most of mankind, I can imagine you may have had some real suffering in your life, all I see in this post is a little discomfort. That discomfort is something that you choose to encounter as part of the enjoyment of your runs or as part of an otherwise rewarding career.

The point that you and some of the comments make about putting adversity into proper perspective is a good one. I just don’t agree with the examples you choose to illustrate that, “It’s not that I don’t suffer.” Lot’s of folks would love to have these problems.

By: KellyT

KellyT — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 02:26:50 +0000

After gritting my teeth for 6 hours this morning at the Boulder Rez during a 1/2 ironman race, I stumbled on this post this evening and found it quite relevant. If you think certain people in your office are motivated workers, etc..imagine them out on the race couse and think about how they would do when things go *really* tought. I was doing this today and it provided some interesting perspective.

By: Zach

Zach — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 02:44:35 +0000

Awesome post Brad. Reminds me of the question, “Are you becoming ordinary?”

Even though we (Generation Y) have been raised and told to “get good grades, go to college and get a good JOB” I find that working to become your own boss and having a business is far superior.

Keep up the good work!

By: Osman

Osman — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 20:47:13 +0000

You wrote, “Failure (and suffering) is part of the experience, but it shouldn