The Heart and the Fist.

So I just read this book - The Heart and the Fist by Eric Greitens.  And I had a hard time getting into it - I really wanted to love it, but the truth is I didn't (I feel bad even typing that!). But this blog is a place for me to express my thoughts and opinions whether positive or negative right?

It did get fairly good reviews and 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.  So someone had to like it. So why not give it a go?  It just might intrigue you more than it intrigued me - you never know!

The front tab says, "Like many young idealist, Eric Greitens wanted to make a difference. Throughout college and after, he traveled to the worlds' trouble spots, working in refugee camps and serving the sick and the poor on four continents, from Gaza to Croatia to Mother Teresa's home in Calcutta, among others.  Yet when innocent civilians were threatened with harm, there was nothing he could do but step in afterward and try to ease the suffering.  He became a Rhodes Scholar to study the history of humanitarianism, in search of a better way, but all the theory in the world could not get past the fundamental problem: when an army invades, the weak need to be protected.

...So he joined the Navy SEALs and became one of the world's elite warriors.  As an offer, he led his men through the unforgettable soul-testing of SEAL training, culminating in Hell Week - recounted in these pages with remarkable detail - and went on to deployment in Kenya, Thailand, Afghanistan, and Iraq, where he faced harrowing encounters and brutal militia attacks.  yet even when he wore heavy armor and wielded some of the deadliest combat arms, the lessons of his humanitarian work bore fruit.

At the heart of Eric's powerful story lies a paradox sometimes you have to be strong to do good, but you also have to do good to be strong.  The heart and the first together are more powerful than either one alone."

See...sounds good right?  Well, if I am honest, some of my favorite bits were in the first few pages.  In the preface he states, "I've learned from nuns who fed the destitute in mother Teresa's homes for the dying in India, aid workers who healed orphaned children in Rwanda, and Navy SEALs who fought in Afghanistan.  As warriors, as humanitarians, they've taught me that without courage, compassion falters, and that without compassion, courage has no direction.  They've shown me that it is within our power, and that the world requires of us - of every one of us - that we be both good and strong."

Loved the bit about courage and compassion - it's so true isn't it?  Courage has no direction without compassion - do you believe this?  Can you have one without the other?

And another bit..."On the front lines - in humanitarian crises, in wars overseas, and around some kitchen tables here at home - I'd seen that peace is more than the absence of war, and that a good life entails more than the absence of suffering.  A good peace, a solid peace, a peace in which communities can flourish, can only be built when we ask ourselves and each other to be more than just good, and better than just strong.  And a good life, a meaningful life, a life in which we can enjoy the world and live with purpose, can only be built if we do more than live for ourselves."

Well said Mr. Greitens, well said.