insightfully yours

i have a friend with phenomenal instinctual power, or perhaps it is maturity, or both. when i saw him a few days ago, conversation entered several varied realms, leaving me with insightful thoughts to cogitate over for days, if not weeks to follow. one of his comments was, "instead of focusing on a different virtue every month, make courage your virtue for six months. all the other virtues will follow." conversation went into change and how one may identify change within - by proof of correctness or by test verification :). (no points for guessing my modus operandi.)

at the end of our meeting, he said something that made me ask why he wouldn't encourage me instead (to walk on the path i have laid out for myself), and he said, "in fact, i should discourage you. so that you find yourself on this path only if you are really driven toward it." how true, and how very inspiring. one benefits from all kinds of friends in this world - those who encourage, and those who discourage thus; those who hold us close, and those who push us out into the fray to fight the wild dogs and come out iron-strong. our lives are the richer for them all. and so i am grateful.