A piece of wisdom from
January 19, 2025 · Sunday
The quote
“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”
— Seneca · Stoicism
The concept
Sisu
The Finnish word for the strength that shows up only when everything is gone.
Two hundred days of darkness a year. Forty below in winter. Russia next door. The Finns had to invent a word for the strength that shows up only when everything is gone, and they named it sisu. Sisu is not grit. Not resilience. Not courage.…
A practice for today
Notice one moment today when the lesson of Sisu. The Finnish word for the strength that shows up only when everything is gone.
From the Bhagavad Gita
Verse 6.5
उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत्। आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः॥
“Lift yourself by yourself; do not let yourself sink. For the self alone is the friend of the self, and the self alone is the enemy of the self.”
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