190: Lessons from the Spartans

Every few years I either read or listen to the book Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. This book is about the Battle of Thermopylae in which 300 Spartan soldiers were sent to defend the area known as the Hot Gates. The movie 300 was inspired by this tale. Each time I read/listen to this book, something new and thought provoking stands out. This time around, it was a conversation between a young soldier and his mentor Dienekes...

Dienekes told his protege that the mind is like a house with many rooms. There are rooms one must NOT go into. Some of those rooms include anger, fear, jealousy, envy, revenge, etc. Any of these passions will lead "the mind toward that "possession" which undoes men in war." Think to moments in your life where you have felt emotions so strong that your mind does not think rationally. Think of those times when you were furious, envious, jealous, and angry: Were you thinking clearly or thinking in a reactionary way? According to Dienekes, it is “that yielding to fear or anger which robs an army of order and reduces it to a rabble." In our own lives, operating that way with our mind possessed by those emotions robs us of thinking clearly and living.

So what are you to do when these situations arise? Prepare yourself for anything in a stoic like manner. Respond to situations rather than react and remember, “Habit will be your champion. When you train the mind to think one way and one way only, when you refuse to allow it to think in another, that will produce great strength in battle.” Our battleground will not be as daunting as what Dienekes and the 300 Spartans faced at Thermopylae, but the lessons still relate!