Two

I started writing this with a blue pen. It was my second option. My primary drafting book for all blogs is a journal gifted to me by my mom. Right now I’m using a notepad. It’s my second option. If these two objects could speak I bet they would not feel special to be second options. There was a first, but if they were to look at all other options, I had I bet they would be more than satisfied with themselves because at least they’re better than whatever else I didn’t choose.

Second option always feels so off. Two is one of the worst numbers to maybe identify with. Coming second in a race means the person who came last might be remembered more than you are. Even if the person in first is disqualified your inheritance of the victory may as well not feel as prestigious. Being second can really mean a lot or nothing at all. Two means there’s everything else after but you’re not enough to be first. Two means being better than the rest does not count because there’s something better than you plus the rest you consider yourself better than.

Our second priorities might never see the light of day as long as the first priorities aren’t dealt with. That’s what it means to be a substitute. Sometimes you only hope for the demise of others to get a chance. Even if you do, the effort is only enough to prove why you were the second best anyway and rightfully so why you aren’t deserving of first place. Your work is enough for that second place. You can have the stage but not for long. If the first option is set to be back on, you’re off until further notice.

Second and shadow have the same number of letters. Makes it safe to say maybe second always lies in the shadows. The darkness formed due to the main players assuming their roles. Your work in the shadows is to follow. Never flinch or defend anything when praise goes to the “deserving”. This is what it means to be in the shadows, to work on your own and to work on yourself maybe without the help of others simply because they have something to focus on which is not you. I mean you’re just second place anyway.

In a two man fight, the loser is technically second place. It does not take away the fact that that person is a loser. If they are to claim that they are second place, everyone would remind them of the trauma that they faced in that ring, of what it means to have lost to someone. Even if they are the second best, they still would have lost in order to gain the place. Sometimes this is what being second means. Being the second person to start a business makes you a second, never a first. Being the second person to win something makes you a second, never a first. Being the second person to start something and never go through with it makes you a second, never a first. Being the second person to take action makes you a second, never a first. The first will always take the crown.

Second place after samurai is an interesting story about working in the shadows, the story of ninjas. Ninjas in modern culture are associated with assassination and subterfuge rather than face-to-face combat. It makes it seem that the beginning of their culture needed something that would make them go for assassination and subterfuge, working in the shadows because there was someone first, the samurai, and the samurai were the ones everyone looked up to but ninjas came with something else from the shadows. Their three main tenets are honor, courage and loyalty, but they were always in a fight with something else. At the time when ninjas emerged they were fighting with second place but right now they are glorified more than many cultures from the Japanese era, especially in the western world.

What might be more interesting today’s the story of Buddhist ninjas who came about in the sixth century A.D. Buddhism, which was a fairly new religion in Japan and was in conflict with Shintoism and second to that same religion. Buddhist ninjas soon adapted and fought and worked in the shadows so much that Daimyo decided to hire them rather than hunt for them. When they were being hunted, all they did was work. They became special athletes, manipulating their joints to the point of dislocating at will. They became more than just fighters like the samurai, they became alchemists who were able to make poisons, gases and medicine for in-the-field healing, and sometimes infused themselves with little doses and just enough portions of these poisons and gases such that they were able to make themselves immune in case such an attack would come for them.

Remember they were second place. They became more than who the way meant to be. They were meant to be fighters, but they became assassins, spies and intelligence gatherers. From the second place, instead of just being shadows and following what everyone else was doing they redefined themselves. They were second place not only in their identity as ninjas, but also in their identity as Buddhist. Instead of taking this and just being shadows like many of us would want to be. “Oh, at least I’m in the shadow of someone great, at least that means something,” it does not, for them it did not. They became more than what they were meant to be in the shadows, they became more than just fighters, they became more than just mere assassins. They became more, they became everything and being in the shadows meant no one looked at them when they were doing whatever they were doing, but they were able to accomplish multiple missions. Just like how today you are in the shadows, you are in second place, but that does not mean you are incapable of working. There is still work to be done. There is still more to work on, there is some way up to become more than what we just meant to be because maybe being in second place and being in the shadows gives us an opportunity to work, away from all the attention that goes to those who come first and those may be sometimes who even come last. You are just in the balance between everyone looking at you and no one caring at all it gives you an opportunity to become more than who you were meant to be, an opportunity to become more than the reason why you are second in the first place.

Right now, depictions of the ninja do not do justice to the full extent of their ingenuity. Lethal assassins? Yes, they were but they were way ahead of their time in scientific knowledge and mastery of the body and mind. Had they not been somewhat second maybe they would’ve not gotten a chance to work in the shadows just like how you are. You are second in the one field that you love, but that presents another opportunity that only gives us a great chance at becoming first when it matters through rigorous training and discipline just like the ninja. You can become more than what you were looking at. You can become more than what you were meant to identify with just because at some point your way identified with the number that would be the worst number to identify with.

So yes, two is not the best number to identify with but two presents a double in opportunity, a double in a chance to work a double in potential. Two doubles everything. It can also double our ability to become greater than who we thought we would be the days before today.

What to take away from Two:

• Transform Your Position: Like the Buddhist ninjas who turned their second-place status into unique strengths, we can transform our perceived disadvantages into specialized skills.
• Work in the Shadows: Being out of the spotlight can be an advantage, allowing for focused development and innovation – just as the ninjas developed their unique abilities away from public attention.
• Double Your Opportunities: “two doubles everything” we can leverage our position to create multiple paths to success. Redefining who we are and branching out from orthodox competition.
• Redefine Success: Drawing from the ninja example, we can transcend traditional definitions of success – becoming “more than just fighters” in our fields.
• Embrace Versatility: Like how ninjas became more than just warriors – developing skills in athletics, alchemy, and espionage – diversify your abilities rather than competing directly with those in “first place.”