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| Two Gas-Soaked Men Post Demolition Derby: T'SUH!! |
[An addendum to The Suakhet'u Program. To learn how to engage in this practice see here.]
First, to Answer the Question:
“Mark, what exactly is, T’suh!?
T’suh! Is a Comanche Warrior word/concept that broadly
means, “Ready!”
Second Question:
“Mark, why do I always see you hit it with an exclamation mark?”
Well, my kind interrogator, that is because the word
is always meant to be emphatic. Shouted if the environment and circumstances permit
and always accompanied by a gesture. An emphatic use of the body that marries
the physical with the word with the cognitive intention.
Such tripling of language [word/intention/action] is
common in indigenous thought. It was thought to better prime the organism for
action and not merely be more drippings of unfulfilled words from mendacious mouths.
I have found my own adoption of this language tripling
mighty vivifying.
T’suh! is not merely a stand-in for our version of the
word “ready.” T’suh! implies an attitude of “Next!” or “Let’s see what’s
over that hill?” or “Here is good, but I will endeavor to make my next
step better.”
Downstream living [Note the lower-case “l”]
The opposite of the Comanche “T’suh!” is to be called “tinawa,”
which literally translates to “people who stay downstream.”
It can refer to those who literally stay in base camp,
but conceptually, it is more “He never tries to see around the next bend”
or “She always waits to find out; but finding out, is out there—not here.”
On the surface that may sound esoteric, but your own personal
experience can verify this easily.
It is the difference between imagining the sexual act,
or reading about the sexual act, or viewing the sexual act on screens but never
actually having the full-bore immersive five sense experience of what is being
discussed.
All may know what the other is talking about, all may
be camped on some portion of the river, but downstream will never know what the
upstream experience is.
Upstream is where it’s at—if you’re doin’ it right.
Descriptors are stand-ins that never stand
on their own.
Once Upon a Time…
A Warrior’s “T’suh” is never resting on laurels.
“I used to…”
Or,
“One time I…”
In “T’suh!” thought these statements are equivalent to
saying “I used to be interesting, inquisitive and adventurous but no more.”
“I used to be..” was considered a shameful utterance
to a warrior. It is what you are now, and what your “T’suh!” is to be in the next
second, next minute, next step that carried the totality of the Warrior’s
presence.
Not a memory or husk of former lived experience.
We find this echoed in psychological Flow Theory,
“I shall be more than what I am; the self is never complete
and finished, it is what I will do in the Future that determines who I am.”--Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi, The Evolving Self
Often, Warriors or potential Warriors are distracted
from embracing “T’suh!” by concerns that will slough off at the end of
life---when it is often far far too late to make best use of potential.
The end of life is often a poor time to learn how to begin
living.
Killing Regrets
Bronnie Ware, spent time in palliative care, that is, hospice
care, caring for folks who are at the end of their lives. In learning from her “end
of life” patients she authored the book, Top Five Regrets of the Dying:
A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing.
The book is worth a read, but in precis the enumerated
five can go a long way towards making Now! And this Now! And the next Now! Vital.
Regret 1: “I wish I’d
had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of
me.”
Regret 2: “I wish I hadn’t
worked so hard.”
[Read that as, “Worked so hard for the ambitions of
others, not for my own self or family.” I am continually shocked at how
hard many “work” for the agendas and ambitions of political parties or sports
teams comprised of members who couldn’t pick us out of a line-up of two, but postpone
their very own ambitions to an unpromised future.]
Regret 3: “I wish I’d
had the courage to express my feelings.”
[Read that, “Live out loud! Love out loud!” T’suh!
Warriors are Open-Hearted Warriors.]
Regret 4: “I wish I’d
stayed in touch with my friends.”
[Many use the false friendship of screens, or the lulling
laziness of the binge-queue to suffice for true interaction. “No, not this
time, hit me again next time” is far easier than “T’suh!” but nobody wishes
for asses on couch, screen before eyes at the end. I love Sebastian Junger’s
phrase for choosing toys over people, “We have bonded with our stuffed animals.”]
Regret 5: “I wish I’d
let myself be happier.”
If we are wise we use the regrets of Warriors-of Lost-Potential
to be tinder for our own T’suh! Fire.
“Don’t Stop Ya Gotta Keep Movin’”
The lyric from The Dub Pistols “Keep Moving” is a “T’suh!”
anthem.
Rollin’ with punches is “T’suh!”
Spinning tires to keep revs up and eat the impact is “T’suh!”
[See the podcast for the explanation of this
apt metaphor.]
What’s next is “T’suh!”
Whether that next be the next adventure lived, the next
project competed, the next foolish scheme embarked, the next hug distributed,
the next act of kindness sown.
Warriors live Now because regrets will come far too
soon.
So, you wanna be T’suh! Or tinawa?
I wager if you’ve read this far, T’suh! Is for you.
[For more on living T'suh! See The Suakhet'u Program.]
For more on Black Box Training Resources
https://www.extremeselfprotection.com/
For a podcast on such matters.
https://anchor.fm/mark-hatmaker
Or, for the true T’suh! Warriors READY TO GO! consider
The Black Box Subscription Program.
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