More thoughts on :
“SISU”
refers not to the courage of optimism, but to a concept of life that says,
“I may not win, but I will give up my life gladly for what I believe.”
“The ultimate determination, fortitude, and persistance … carried to an unfathomable level.”
“…a measure of integrity that surpasses the hardship and sees through to the end”
“to complete a task because failure is not acceptable”
~ appreciation for the collection @ Sisu
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the word derives from sisus, which means something inner or interior
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A true sisu Finn finds hardship and the threat of defeat or poverty unsurprising and perhaps even strangely just.
“There is a certain animalistic stubbornness in sisu. There are certainly moments of joy, after having survived a bad situation. Sometimes there are friends to congratulate you and praise you. But just as often, there is no reward whatsoever, no acknowledgment whatsoever. This is the most essential ingredient, this Sisyphean element. It’s critical to persist, to continue, to persevere, without any expectation of any outcome whatsoever. The heart of sisu is doing what is right, simply because it is right. The heart of sisu is to persevere, because not to is unthinkable.
Sisu is when anyone continues, even though in the heart of despair, despite having been betrayed, even though being mocked, even though alone, even though heartsick, injured, and nauseous because to surrender to the despair is unthinkable.” ~aikidoinstitute.org/kiai
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The purpose of this overview of expressions of the sisu quality is in order to see its development is possible. Indeed, there are those who speak of two sides of ‘sisu’ depending on the inner motivation of the person – for good or for ill.
Much is within man except the ability to guarantee his own goodness and intention. That remains with God.
Just for fun I ran across this… if you’re a Finn is it true that:
You might be a Finn if:
1. Your coffee consumption exceeds 6 cups a day, and the coffee is too weak unless made with 10 or more scoops per eight-cup pot.
2. You are never late, not even “fashionably late.†You are always on time.
3. When a stranger in the street smiles at you, you assume:
1. he is drunk
2. he is insane
3. he’s a Swede
4. Silence is fun.
5. You say “sow-na” instead of “saw-nah.”
6. You know that 167 degrees is too cold inside the sow-na while 77 degrees is blazing hot outside.
7. You get all the Swedish jokes.
8. Your bad mood is your good mood.
9. Your idea of unforgivable behavior includes walking across the street when the light is red and there is no WALK symbol, even though there are no cars in sight.
10. “No comment” is a conversation strategy.
11. You see no problem wearing white socks with loafers.
12. You know how to fix herring in 101 different ways.
13. You eat herring in 101 different ways.
14. You associate pea soup with Thursday.
15. You rummage through your plastic bag collection to see which ones you should keep to take to the store and which can be sacrificed to garbage.
16. You understand why the Finnish language has no future tense.
??