Book 80 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title - Purpose Always Prevails

Book - 1776 by David McCullough

Book Description: In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence—when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper. Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is a powerful drama written with extraordinary narrative vitality. It is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King’s men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known.

Reflection:

If I have learned anything at all over the course of my quest in the past few years, it is the notion that "he who has a why can overcome any how" is what defines this world and what propels us forward as a species.

The story of 1776 and the American Revolutionary War is no different. As an American, we are taught as children in our history classes about the epic upset and under dog story of the origins of how our country came to be during the revolutionary war. We learn about the key players, founding fathers of our nation, and how they took on an empire and won. They seem like almost mythological characters that accomplished the impossible seemingly with nothing other than their shear will.

On paper, we should have had no chance to beat the British and win our independence, but somehow we did. So how did we do it?

As a kid I didn't understand, it just seemed like a great story where everything bounced our way and we got lucky. As an adult, I still didn't understand and really didn't pay too much attention to it as I was busy living my life and wrapped up in my own day to day problems. After losing Emilia which led me to finding my own purpose and kickstarting my own epic quest, I finally get it.

The colonials had a shared purpose anchored in core values to fight for everyday, the British did not.

The underlying fundamentals of how this victory came to be are so obvious to me now, whereas, they were hidden before. Almost every epic story of an underdog overcoming the odds to win are almost seemingly identical. Whether it is the allies defeating the Germans in WWII, the colonials gaining independence from the British, apartheid being overthrown in South Africa, the Jews making it out of Egypt, etc. All of these stories share the same foundational elements. They were all forged in pain, trauma, and adversity in the beginning. That suffering led to a paradigm shift on life which generated ideas that began to circulate among the impacted. Those new ideas slowly became a shared identity and a purpose for the tribe of people that were impacted. Those purposes turned into missions. Those missions couldn't be stopped once they started as they were so deeply rooted amongst its people.

For instance - The American colonies were literally started by people that were tired of being oppressed and were seeking freedom to live their lives in different ways. They built their new world rooted in the ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those ideas turned into a shared and collective purpose among the new tribe forming. When that purpose turned into a mission...we all know what happened next. The British never stood a chance. The British soldiers weren't fighting for anything other than money and making sure their king got his tax collections. They didn't care. It was just a job. There was no shared purpose to summon the will needed to fight and win. That is why they lost.

It is so simple yet somehow so hard to recreate if you don't understand the fundamentals. If you want to change the world, find your purpose and unite a tribe together around it. Then...watch out.

Question: Is your battle a fight of purpose or just something you do?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - 1776

YOML Bookstore - 1776 by David McCullough