Hemingway describes the Spanish matador's plight - "Ver llegar" this way:
" . . . the ability to watch the bull come as he charges with no thought except to calmly see what he is doing and make the moves necessary to the maneuver you have in mind. To calmly watch the bull come is the most necessary and primarily difficult thing in bullfighting."
Life brings each of us problems and challenges - and they seem to stare us down, scoop deep into the ground, exhale venom and destruction, preparing our demise. Crisis and doom ready themselves in our direction.
Perhaps you are a tomato supplier in the midst of a salmonella outbreak, perhaps your skill set is no longer needed in your industry after 20 years, or perhaps you have a health crisis that seems unstoppable. It is painful - terrifying - and often debilitating as we see our future barreling towards us with no regard.
Our task, our plight, is to watch calmly - assess the oncoming beast in all its fury - and act.
We are each in the ring with a beast, an opponent, a enemy, a change, that exceeds our strength by 100 times. Surely it would crush us given the chance.
If we are wise and have the courage to look calmly - and change direction accordingly - we have the power to overcome unscathed. It is a sacred trust that the matador develops within himself. It is a confidence and a valor - one in which the matador places his very life. The power to look life right in the eyes and move WITH it to succeed.
"Ver llegar" - the greatest strength of the matador. Find it within yourself -
