Virtus 👊 #004: Order From Chaos: Small Victories, Daily Battles, and The Art of Making Meaning

Are you ready to find strength in life's smallest battles?

In this battle-ready fourth issue:

• Discover why the emptiest canvas offers the greatest opportunity in our raw take on creating personal meaning

• Meet Alex, a young man drowning in chaos until a stranger's wisdom about rusty ships changes everything

• Learn why entropy isn't your enemy - it's your daily chance to prove who you are

• Find out how heated insoles became a $77 solution to a problem two socks could fix

• Explore aging with purpose through Simone de Beauvoir's timeless wisdom

Grab your coffee (and maybe clean that cup when you're done). Let's bring some order to this chaos.

Note: This one's for every guy who's ever looked at his messy room and thought "what's the point?" Trust us - there is one, and it's bigger than you think.

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MAIN ARTICLE

The Freedom of the Blank Canvas: Why Life's Meaninglessness Is Our Greatest Gift

Photo by cottonbro studio

"Why do adults always look tired?" my kid asked while watching me pack my laptop for another workday.

I almost gave him the standard parent answer about responsibility and providing for the family. But his question stuck with me during my commute.
Do we really understand why we do what we do?
Or are we just following a script someone else wrote?

Here's what hit me:
Yes, we work because we need money.
Yes, we have bills to pay and mouths to feed. These aren't choices - they're realities. But how we approach these realities?
That's where our power lies.

Some guys drag themselves through each day, bitter about having to work. Others find purpose in the same tasks. Same job, different meaning. The work didn't change - their perspective did.

The Empty Box

Think of life like an empty box. Some guys spend their whole lives waiting for someone to fill it. They follow paths others have walked:

• Get the "right" job

• Buy the "right" car

• Live in the "right" neighborhood

But here's the truth: The box comes empty on purpose. “It's not a bug - it's a feature.”

Why This Matters Now

We're living in an age where meaning feels mass-produced:

• Social media tells us what success looks like

• Algorithms decide what we should want

• Society hands us pre-written scripts for happiness

But what if the lack of built-in meaning isn't a curse? What if it's our chance to create something real?

The Power of Nothing

Here's the thing about meaninglessness - it's terrifying. But it's also liberating. Because when nothing inherently matters, you get to decide what matters to you.

Think about it:

• That promotion at work? You decide if it matters

• That expensive watch? You choose its meaning

• Those weekend basketball games with friends? Their value is what you say it is

Creating Your Own Meaning

1. Start With Clean Slate

   • Drop the "should's"

   • Question inherited goals

   • Clear out borrowed dreams

2. Find Your True North

   • What pulls you naturally?

   • When do you lose track of time?

   • What would you do for free?

3. Build Your Cathedral

   • Small acts add up

   • Daily choices create meaning

   • Consistency beats intensity (and even talent, in most cases)

The Reality Check

Look, this isn't about quitting your job to become a mountain guru. It's about owning your choices. Maybe you choose to work that corporate job - not because society says so, but because it funds the life you want to create.

The Practice of Meaning-Making

1. Morning Questions

   • Why am I doing this today?

   • What makes this matter to me?

   • How does this serve my story?

2. Evening Review

   • What felt meaningful today?

   • Where did I act on autopilot?

   • What would I choose differently?

Your Meaning Toolkit

• Question Everything
  Not in an angry teenager way, but in a curious explorer way

• Choose Consciously
  Even small choices build meaning when made intentionally

• Create Daily
  Meaning isn't found - it's made, one day at a time

The Hard Truth

Some days will feel meaningless. That's okay. Meaning isn't a constant state - it's something you create and recreate daily.

The Real Power Move

Stop asking "What's the meaning of life?" Start asking "What meaning am I creating today?"

Because here's the truth: Life is a blank canvas. That's not scary - it's the best news you'll get all day. Because a blank canvas? That's just potential waiting for your touch.

Your move: What will you create today?

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SHORT STORY

Small Victories

Photo by Sander

Alex stared at his bedroom ceiling, counting the water stains while his phone buzzed with another "running late" message to his boss. Empty coffee cups formed a small city on his nightstand. His laptop wheezed somewhere under a pile of clothes, forty-something browser tabs still open from last night's YouTube rabbit hole.

"What's the point?" he muttered, kicking aside a hoodie as he finally rolled out of bed. "It'll all just get messy again."

He'd read that book everyone kept talking about - the one about making your bed first thing in the morning. Some retired military guy preaching about how this simple act could change your life.

"Yeah, right," Alex snorted, grabbing semi-clean jeans from the floor. "Because folding blankets will fix everything."

The local coffee shop was packed, but one table remained empty except for an older man in a crisp white shirt, methodically arranging his things: laptop, notebook, pen, coffee cup - each item placed with deliberate care.

"Mind if I sit here?" Alex asked, already dropping his tangled mess of laptop and chargers onto the table. "Everywhere else is full."

The man - Daniel, according to his laptop sticker - looked up with calm eyes. "Of course." He shifted his items slightly, maintaining their precise alignment.

Alex's coffee sloshed over his cup's rim as he sat. "Sorry, sorry," he mumbled, reaching for napkins. "One of those days. Actually, more like one of those lives."

Daniel watched him dab at the spill. "Interesting choice of words. What makes it 'one of those lives'?"

Maybe it was something in Daniel's voice - no judgment, just curiosity - but Alex found himself talking.

"It's just... everything's always a mess, you know? I try to get organized, but what's the point? Clean the apartment, it gets dirty. Clear my inbox, it fills up. Make my bed..." He gestured vaguely. "Two days later, it looks like a tornado hit it. Fighting entropy feels pretty stupid when entropy always wins."

Daniel smiled, closing his laptop. "Tell me, do you know why ships rust?"

"What?"

"Ships. Ocean vessels. Why do they rust?"

Alex blinked. "Uh, oxidation? Salt water?"

"Correct. It's a natural process. Inevitable. And yet, every morning, sailors clean and paint their ships. Every single morning, knowing full well that rust will return. Are they fighting a pointless battle?"

"That's different," Alex protested. "Ships are expensive. They need maintenance."

"And your life doesn't?" Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Your mind? Your space?"

He gestured to his own table setup. "I'm not organized because I expect perfection. I'm organized because clarity in my space helps create clarity in my mind. Every morning, I wake up and acknowledge that chaos is the natural state of things. Then I choose to push back, just a little."

Alex glanced at his own mess spread across half the table, then at his phone showing three unread emails from his boss.

"But it never ends," he said. "That's what kills me. It's this constant fight."

"That's exactly the point." Daniel's eyes crinkled. "The fight is the meaning. Each small victory over chaos - a made bed, a clean dish, a closed browser tab - it's like telling the universe, 'Not today. Today, in this small way, I choose order.'"

He laid his pen precisely parallel to his notebook. "You're not fighting chaos because you expect to win forever. You're fighting it because the act of fighting - the daily choice to push back against entropy - that's what gives you strength. That's what builds character."

Alex looked down at his coffee cup, at the small brown ring it had left on the table. Without thinking, he reached for another napkin and wiped it clean.

Daniel nodded approvingly. "There you go. One small victory."

"But tomorrow-"

"Tomorrow there will be new coffee stains. New challenges. New chaos. And tomorrow you'll have another chance to choose order. That's not failure - that's life."

Alex sat back, really looking at his table spread for the first time. His tangled charger. His crumb-covered laptop. His notifications bleeding red across his phone screen.

"Start small," Daniel said, standing to leave. "One bed. One dish. One tab. Order isn't about perfection - it's about intention." He gathered his things, each movement deliberate. "And Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"The sailors don't paint their ships because they expect the rust to give up. They paint them because they refuse to."

That evening, Alex stood in his doorway, looking at his mess of a room. For the first time, he didn't see a hopeless task. He saw a series of small choices.

He picked up one coffee cup.

Tomorrow, there would be more mess. More chaos. More entropy.

But tomorrow, he would choose again.

One victory at a time.

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BOOK… A CALL

The Coming of Age

By Simone De Beauvoir (amazon link, not an ad)

Look, this isn't your typical self-help book about aging gracefully or "50 is the new 30." This is a gut-punch of wisdom from one of the 20th century's sharpest minds about the one thing we're all doing: getting older.

Why This Book Hits Different

Forget everything you've read about aging. Beauvoir isn't here to sell you anti-aging creams or retirement plans. She's here to tell you something more important: the secret to not becoming a parody of your younger self.

The Big Idea

Here's the truth bomb: Time will pass. You will age. That's not negotiable. But becoming bitter, isolated, or irrelevant? That's a choice.

Key Takeaways for Modern Men

1. Purpose Doesn't Retire

   • Your job title might change, but your ability to contribute doesn't

   • Finding meaning isn't a young man's game

   • The goal isn't to stay young - it's to stay engaged

2. The Passion Principle

   • Keep interests that pull you outward, not inward

   • Strong passions prevent mental rust

   • Your fire doesn't have to fade - it just needs new fuel

3. The Connection Currency

   • Your life's value is measured by what you give to others

   • Love, friendship, even righteous anger - these keep you young

   • Isolation is the real enemy, not age

Who Should Read This?

• Men in their 30s wondering "Is this it?"

• Guys watching their fathers age and wondering how to do it better

• Anyone who wants to understand why some men age like wine and others like milk

Best Quote to Drop at the Gym

"In old age we should wish still to have passions strong enough to prevent us turning in on ourselves."

The Real Talk

This book isn't easy reading. But neither is watching yourself age without a game plan. Beauvoir offers something rare: a roadmap for maintaining dignity and purpose as time does its thing.

Why It Matters Now

In a world obsessed with staying young, Beauvoir suggests something radical: focus on staying purposeful instead. It's not about how many years you have left - it's about what you do with them.

Action Steps After Reading

1. Audit your passions - what pulls you out of yourself?

2. Check your contribution meter - where are you giving value?

3. Look at your connections - are they deepening or fading?

Bottom Line

You're going to age. That's physics. But becoming irrelevant? That's optional.

Read this if you want to:

• Age without becoming obsolete

• Keep your fire while gaining wisdom

• Leave a legacy instead of just leaving

Remember: The goal isn't to die young as late as possible. It's to live fully until the last moment.

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LAUGH LINE

How fast can you get the joke?

Seen here.

PS: “type O” - “typo”

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WORD OF THE WEEK

"Entropy"

Pronunciation: /ˈentrəpē/

Definition:
A scientific term describing the natural tendency of all things to move from order to chaos. In thermodynamics, it's the gradual decline into disorder. But entropy isn't just about physics - it's a powerful metaphor for life itself.

In plain English:
Think of your bedroom. Leave it alone for a week, and it doesn't magically get cleaner. It gets messier. That's entropy. Or think of your email inbox, your garage, or your daily schedule. Without constant attention, things naturally drift toward chaos.

In the context of men's personal growth:
Understanding entropy helps us see why maintaining order requires daily effort. It's not that you're bad at staying organized or that you lack discipline. You're fighting a fundamental law of nature. And that fight - that daily push against chaos - builds character.

Using it in a sentence:
"Alex used to get frustrated about how quickly his desk got messy, until he understood entropy. Now he sees each small act of organization as a meaningful push against the universe's natural chaos."

Why it matters:
When you understand entropy, you stop beating yourself up about having to repeatedly clean, organize, or maintain order. Instead, you start seeing these repeated actions as necessary and noble - daily victories in an endless but worthwhile battle against chaos.

Remember: Entropy will always win in the end. But how long you can hold it back, and what you build in that time - that's where greatness lives.

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POETRY IS COOL

Never Trust a Mirror

by Erin Hanson

Never trust a mirror,

For the mirror always lies,

It makes you think that all your worth,

Can be seen from the outside.

Never trust a mirror,

It only shows you skin deep,

You can’t see how your eyelids flutter,

When you’re drifting off to sleep.

It doesn’t show you what he sees,

When you’re only being you,

Or how your eyes just light up,

When you’re loving what you do.

It doesn’t capture when you’re smiling,

Where no one else can see,

And your reflection cannot tell you,

Everything you mean to me.

Never trust a mirror,

For it only shows your skin,

And if you think that it dictates your worth,

It’s time you looked within.

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HANDWRITTEN MOTIVATION

Animation courtesy of Dare To Be Witty

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“STOP BUYING SH*T YOU DON’T NEED.” (MEL ROBBINS) 😉

Battery-Powered Foot Furnaces: Because Socks Are Too Simple

Ah yes, the age-old problem of cold feet. An issue so dire it clearly requires a $77 solution involving batteries, rubber heating elements, and a manual that might not be in English. Because apparently, we've evol ved beyond the primitive technology known as "wearing two pairs of socks."

Why You "Need" This:

• Because wearing regular insoles doesn't make you feel like Iron Man

• Because you've always wanted your feet to have four temperature settings

• Because nothing says "I make good life choices" like strapping batteries to your feet

• Because who doesn't want to worry about charging their shoes?

Features That Will Change Your Life Forever:

• Washable (because sweaty electric gadgets are totally what you want in your shoes)

• 27.5-inch cables (perfect for tripping over dramatically)

• Batteries included (until they're not)

• Manual might not be in English (adds mystery to your life)

Perfect For:

• People who think regular insoles are too low-tech

• Folks who enjoy the thrill of potentially wet electronics near their feet

• Anyone who's ever said, "You know what my shoes need? More charging cables!"

• Men who want their feet to have more settings than their relationship status

The Real Talk:

Look, if you work in a freezer or patrol the Arctic Circle, maybe you need these. But if you're just someone who gets cold feet sometimes, might we suggest this revolutionary alternative:

1. Buy warm socks

2. Put them on your feet

3. Keep the $77

But hey, if you really want to turn your shoes into a mobile charging station, who are we to judge? At least your toes will be toasty while you explain to your date why you need to plug in your insoles.

Amazon link
P.S. If you buy these, you're legally required to say "powering up" every time you turn them on. We don't make the rules.

P.P.S. For the price of these insoles, you could buy 15 pairs of warm socks. Or one really nice pair of boots. Or therapy to explore why you need your feet to have a power button.

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WOULD YOU HELP OUT?

BROTHER TO BROTHER

Hey, think about your organized friend for a second.

You know the one:

• Everything looks perfect on the outside

• Calendar's always color-coded

• Never misses a deadline

• Always has his shit together

But when's the last time you really heard from him?

Because here's the thing about guys who keep everything in perfect order: sometimes they're fighting the hardest battle against chaos inside.

We all know that brother who's:

• Making lists but losing sleep

• Organizing everything except his thoughts

• Keeping his desk spotless while his mind's in turmoil

• Fighting invisible battles with visible perfection

This newsletter isn't about getting more subscribers. It's about reaching that friend who might need to know it's okay if not everything's in perfect order all the time.

Send him this. No big explanation needed. Just: "Thought of you. Sometimes the most organized guys need to hear this too, brother."

One share. One friend. One way of saying: "I see your fight."

Because sometimes the guys who look like they've got it all figured out are the ones who most need to hear they're not alone in the daily battle.

🤜🤛

The strongest warriors aren't the ones who never fall into chaos - they're the ones who keep getting back up to fight it, one day at a time.