No pain, ...

At some point, I was made aware of a quote by Søren Kierkegaard from his text "The Sickness Unto Death":

So it is too that in the eyes of the world it is dangerous to venture. And why? Because one may lose. But not to venture is shrewd. And yet, by not venturing, it is so dreadfully easy to lose that which it would be difficult to lose in even the most venturesome venture, and in any case never so easily, so completely as if it were nothing...one's self. For if I have ventured amiss--very well, then life helps me by its punishment. But if I have not ventured at all--who then helps me?

Apart from the fact that I seem to be certain of punishment, regardless whether I dare or not - I'm not entirely able to accept that - it's one of the most beautiful formulations of a "pull yourself together". If I dare, I become wiser and may even win more than that; If I dare and fail, I will nevertheless (if you read it in the right way) be able to use the punishment of life as a help. (If you read the Danish original in a more pessimistic way, life's help could simply be to give me the punishment).
The one who does not dare may win earthly benefits of gaining comfort through cowardice, but he will none the less, according to Kierkegaard, lose himself.
(Translated from Hvo intet vinder..., originally published October 16th, 2014)

On the topic of chairs

At one point I went to a lecture where the lecturer spoke of one of these usual recruitment interviews, where the interviewer asked the hopeful candidate the traditional question: "Where are you in five years?"
The applicant had the courage to answer "At that time I sit in your chair!"
From here, what happened further fades in to the mist - the story does not even tell whether the applicant got the job, but we can guess that the outcome to some extent had something to do with the interviewer's courage: if she was a little nervous and looked at the recruitment as part of a zero-zero game where the total amount of team cake is a constant, she would naturally feel somewhat threatened.
But if she was able to see the possibilities - and able to examine the applicant so well that she dared to trust that the person could contribute constructively to the progress - thereby ensuring growth and positive development - there are certainly perspectives in having such an employee.
Maybe there would even be room for promotion of the employee without the expense of the person hiring her - maybe because the hiring manager herself was destined for bigger things.
(Translated from Noget om siddepladser, originally published May 2nd, 2016)