Blog 3 : “There is no storm worse than calm, and no foe more dangerous than to have no foes.”

People always give praise to those who fight adversity and succeed in the face of pressure. Indeed, their accomplishments are worthy of praise and are often no small task, but I think it could be argued that in some ways it's easier for them to find motivation because of their adversity. In other words, they automatically have something to fight for or something strive against. I'm not saying that it makes the challenge or their struggle to overcome the challenge any less daunting, but I do think it can be argued that it's easier to bring yourself to fight when you have a reason to fight or something to fight for. That "something to fight for could be anything from a child or a sick friend to a more borad cause like ending race inequality or to even something as simple as a deadline. For example,Many basketball players are at their best in the final seconds of a playoff game, and manystudents (myself included) produce their best and most efficient work with the deadline bearing down on them. With no adversity there is no sense of ugency and it is extremely easy to fall into complacency. Sometimes it's hard to find motivation when the only source of it you have comes from yourself. Simarly, if you have no competition, you have no reason to change anything. I think this concept translates well into the business world particularly regarding monopolies. If you face no adversity, why should you even bother making improvements that could make your prodect more effiecent or more affordable? So, in a nutshell I think this is what the quote means to me. It's about escaping complancy and striving to live up to your potential and be something more.

Blog 2: Evil forces in the world.

As we see at Manresa, Ignatius strongly believed in the spirit world, and especially in the presence of the devil (the ‘evil one’ as he calls it.) Do you believe in an evil spirit? Explain. Ignatius believed in an active evil force in the world, one that needed to be consciously fought against and driven back. At first it sounds silly to consider an active evil entity in the world constantly working to corrupt everyone and everything, but in a way this point of view makes sense coming from a man like Ignatius. Ignatius is the man who grew up dreaming about becoming chivalrous knight vanquishing the various evil foes and saving all of the innocents who were suffering at their hands. This view transitions almost seamlessly into the realm of the spiritual;the devil is another foe to be vanquished along with all sin and suffering in both the physical and the spiritual world. It became a way for Ignatius to be like that knight fighting against the forces of evil. I find it difficult to believe in an active, conscious evil presence, particularly in the form of a devil. I really don't see how there good be a conscious force of evil working in the world, but I do believe that there is definitely evil in the spiritual and moral sense. Many people claim that there is no good or evil because no one thing that exists in our world can be all good or all evil. I definitely see how people could believe this, but this reason is precisely why I believe that there must be clashing forces of good and evil. Some of the best advice, quotes, and philosophical theories invoke sentiments of balancing forces in the world, a natural equilibrium. For equilibrium to exist, competing forces must exist. There are few who would deny that a force of good exists in the world, but if nothing is entirely good there must be an opposing force, an evil force. It's as simple as "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." We live in a world of opposing forces that don't necessarily have to be consciously working towards an end to be considered real. I believe that this way of thinking can be translated into the realm of the spiritual (which I do believe exists, just to clarify) To answer the question, yes, I do believe in an evil presence, but I do not believe in a conscious evil entity. Even though I may not believe in an "evil one" so to speak, I do still believe that evil can/should be fought against and I am sympathetic to the idea of it being constant battle and struggle of opposing forces.