Weak VS Strong

Beyond Morals

A thought I had the other day while walking through the streets of Philadelphia was,

Do the weak envy the strong?
Also-

Why is it permissible to critique the strong and the beautiful, but not the weak and the ugly?

I was walking through the street without my shirt on, which is obviously not a societal norm by any standards in modern cities. However, my thought is that we must go beyond these basic ways of living and not be confined to a box.

I treat the street as my playground, but I believe the majority of people in cities live within a box or prison. The masses become tied down by societal expectations and what is deemed as “good or bad” behavior.

During the walk in Philly, on this beautiful sunny summer day, it felt as though I was being tarred and feathered by haters every corner I turned. I was told numerous times to put my shirt on and even had this one guy press me, asking if “I’m trying to stunt or flex on him?” To be honest, it fuels me with laughter in the face of the chaos as it is amusing to me, how presence alone can instill insecurity in others.

It’s not my fault I’m so beautiful and strong and you’re so ugly and weak.

This other man was walking down the street with his shirt off, clearly strong and beautiful. He challenged me to some pull-ups as we both have an admiration for each other’s beauty and strength. We jumped up onto the bar, the scaffolding, and began doing street pull-ups. A very thin, weak, pale, and anemic-looking man passed by and scolded us for our actions. He exclaimed, “Cut it out guys! Put your shirts on! Get down from there!” The sad truth is, considering his thin and frail frame, he probably couldn’t do a single pull-up if he tried.

Maybe the weak will always envy the strong, beautiful, confident, and courageous, and this is merely human nature. The best thing to do in these situations, I find, is to turn the other cheek like our best friend Jesus. You just simply don’t react, don’t respond, and ignore their comments or actions. I even have groups of grown men, clearly degenerate and selling drugs with those trendy Jordans on, laughing at me for my barefoot shoes, chuckling in the corner like little girls in middle school. In situations like this, I find it amusing to just stare at them directly in the eyes, and watch as they are surprised and turn the other way.

Strength in Adversity

Here’s a famous quote from the movie Rocky Balboa:

“It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

I find that when you are strong, beautiful, courageous, and confident, it is inevitable that you will be taking lots of arrows in life. Perhaps we must embody the myth of great legends like Achilles, Jesus, or even characters from movies that are famous from Philadelphia, like Rocky. We just do our thing, and ignore the response of others. You just keep moving forward, and ignore.