Rage Feeds a Revolution

A few Sunday thoughts for your consideration.

Recently I began reading a book titled Revolutionary: George Washington at War. Now anyone who knows me knows that I am adamantly opposed to war in all its forms. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from those who approve of it in one form or another.

Turns out that the group George Washington had quite a bit of an ego, at least according to the fellow who wrote this book. And one thing that really stuck out to me is a phrase that he used: “Rage feeds a revolution.” Washington felt slighted by the British army for not giving him a commission of some sort, or come in of a regiment in Virginia. I don’t know all of the details, but suffice it to say that the lack of recognition from the British army put quite a large chip on the shoulder of the father of the United States.

The fact is when we’re OK with things as they are, we really have no motivation to make any meaningful change in any part of our life. It’s only when we get sick and tired of being sick and tired that we actually do something to change anything in our life, be at with our business, or relationships, our finances, etc. In the case of George Washington, this slight to his personal identity worked in his favor, not to mention the entire nation we know as the United States, because he had enough self-restraint and self-awareness to use the energy he felt from being disrespected by his contemporaries to channel it into productive energy. So when the leaders of the American revolution go “sick and tired of being sick and tired” of the harassment and abuse they endured from the British government, there was no question as to who would be the leader of the army that would provide the physical resistance to their tyranny.

I’ve heard stories about the great Michael Jordan taking the most trivial of remarks from his opponents (even his teammates), even deliberately misrepresenting things that other people said and turning it into a personal slight against him, which gave him motivation to go out and perform at an extremely high level. Maybe not the most ethical way of doing business so to speak, but the results speak for themselves.

In all likelihood, anyone reading this email is not a superstar basketball player, nor inconsideration to be the commander in chief of a major military force. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from these two individuals. George Washington and Michael Jordan weren’t just miffed at someone saying something that was a little bit inappropriate. They took it personally, and for better or for worse their pride enabled them to achieve extraordinary things. And whether basketball fans, or simply Americans who enjoy the ability to have a voice for themselves in a court of law, we are the beneficiaries of their greatness.

I know that this is a bit unconventional here in the year 2022, but it’s OK to be angry. Just so long as you have the self-control and self awareness to take that anger and use it in a way that actually improves your life and the lives of others around you.