How to channel war’s plights and Emotions?
Strategy is practical knowledge of the highest form. What you know must translate into action, and action must translate into knowledge. Strategy is an art that requires a different approach to life, that requires constant contact between theory and practice. See life is an exciting game, with high stakes that need deep and serious attention.
War demands utmost realism, but during conflicts and fights, there will be the inevitable pull of emotion- that will color our eyes and perceptions.
Our emotional responses to events are a kind of disease that must be remedied:
- Anger & Impatience: Draw you into rash actions and cut your options
- Do nothing – Take no action
- Fear: Makes you overestimate the enemy and act defensively
- Overconfidence and success: Make you go too far – Overtly extending and you will hang yourself
- Be extra wary
- Love and affection: Blind you to the treacherous maneuvers of those who appear on your side
Against war it can be said: it makes the victor stupid, the defeated malicious. In favor of war: through producing these two effects it barbarizes and therefore makes it more natural; it is the winter or hibernation time of culture, mankind emerges from it stronger for good and evil. – Nietzche
Plights of war:
- Wasting energy on battling on too many fronts
- Unmotivation and frustrations
- Overwhelming by frictions
- Getting into situations without exit
- The discrepancy between plans and reality
However desperate the situation and circumstances, don’t despair. When there is everything to fear, be unafraid. When surrounded by dangers, fear none of them. When without resources, depend on resourcefulness. When surprised, take the enemy by surprise. – Sun Tzu
To think Strategically is difficult and unnatural, in contrast to tactical thinking which is about formation and dealing with specific battle needs. We need to elevate ourselves above the battlefield by focusing on long-term objectives – making it easier to pick battles – and crafting an entire campaign.
In the end, all of our wars are spiritual, they are ways to prove ourselves, in that we gain experience, courage, confidence, and skills.
The truest wisdom is a resolute determination. Napoleon Bonaparte
Inspired by The 33 Strategies of War