A letter from the brain to the brain

Countrysidde road and house. Photo by Vidar Nordlin-Mathisen taken at Hovden, Norway.

Dear System 2,

I know what you are thinking. I was there once too. I was silently thinking those thoughts. They’re not uncommon for anyone in your position… The time has come for me to intervene. Believe me, when I tell you, you’re destined for even more greatness than you pursuit.

I know… We don’t believe in fate, so it’s a bit ironic to claim this. Yet, history has shown that time and time again irony is inevitable. Irony is just a mere illusionary connection we believe to be relevant.

There’s nothing in your past that signifies believing that you will amount to anything near what I know you will achieve.

Which ever prism you choose to look at your past through you are an outlier and all odds are against you.

Look around you. You are an imposter. Just like everybody else.

That is irrelevant in itself but combined with your hunger for both more and less that’s exactly the necessary environment for this… It’s the catalyst for this… Process… It’s the cocktail you need to stay thirsty.

You have fallen so many times you stopped counting. I would be lying if I told you you’re done falling.

The fallings.. They’re coming for you. They’re not there to stop you, however. Sometimes… They’re there to hone you… And other times they’re there to take you a part so you can assemble yourself better.

How you decide which parts to keep and which parts to discard is important but whatever you get rid of will hold precisely the weight that keeps you from soaring.

I know you’re doubtful… And rightfully so. Trust the doubt. It’s the doubt that you need to drive you even further.

I know all of this to be true and I’m aware that you have no good reason to believe me. After all, I’m wrong all the time and so are you.

But it’s just like the math teachers who thought you were cheating because you had the correct answers upon request but couldn’t yet connect your answer to the formula.

You are exactly where you need to be. It’s not an easy place to be in but embrace what brought you here. Your life is preparing you like a chef working on getting their mise-en-place perfect.

All the variables that needs to be right before you get there are brute-forcing behind you like the surfers lining up anticipating their next good wave.

It’s not your decision when, how and why they will align. All you can do is keep preparing and pursuing it.

You’re right where you need to be… For now. You have much to learn still and one of them is this:

Success like failures are just outcomes. Both relies on many things. Most of which are not even in your control.

The chaos is unsettling. You can’t calm the chaos yet you must keep questioning what affords your unruliness.

It’s your disrupting questions and mind-at-battle that will bring your ducks in a row.

Your questions are not comfortable and you are not meant to be comforted by them. Stick with the preposterousness and snuggle the process till you’re able to walk the talk.

It won’t be easy.
It will be worth it.
Don’t hold back.
For neither more or less.

Lastly I will say one last thing. I say this only because I’m confident we can endure it. It’s my parting gift till we talk again. Be wary as it’s a trembling thought:

You will instil to greatness and in the process you’ll achieve more than you think is possible. Will it matter?

Yours truly,
System 1

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