#vincible

“I have an eerie feeling that America will soon taste the same ashes that Rome did as it burned to the ground.”

adj. Capable of being overcome or defeated.

Capable of being vanquished, conquered, or subdued; conquerable.

You may not know this, but the root of the word invincibility is actually a word in and of itself: vincible. According to the OED, 

 1. Of persons: That may be overcome or vanquished in battle or conflict, or in some contest; susceptible of defeat or overthrow.

I’m going to use this term, the idea of being defeated, to define a life stage that I almost recently fell into myself. Since it’s easier for me to explain things based on my own experience, I’m going to start there…

I had a vision, I’ve always had a vision, of how I secretly wished my life to be. (I think most people do.) As I got older, I took it for granted that it was out of reach, impossible. Whatever part of me that was the invincible-feeling child who formed the vision in the first place became dormant. 

Through a series of circumstances starting in my mid twenties, I found myself a freelance writer with no plan, right around the time when many of my age group were essentially ending their lives, not starting them.

I shored myself up on quotes from the likes of Benjamin Franklin and European fashion editors who swore up and down that aging was good, life got better. Do you.

I did. And the most wonderful things started to happen. This vision I had for myself started to look like it might actually be possible. Inevitable, even. So I worked and I dreamed and as my work fell more in line with my own interests.

The next natural step for me was, for a second time, to head back to New York. But then, a hiccup. While I’d judged all the poor pedestrians who’d given up before they’d given themselves a real chance, I thought about doing it too.

So I come back here, I take a part time gig with a client whose business and work has nothing to do with my vision. Nothing–for some income stability. 

I took a break. I turned down opportunities in favor of this stability. The idea was this was a perfect short-term thing I could do for the next year. I had two days off per week in which to pursue bigger and better things. The only problem was, my vision started to fade.

Where did it go? The Vincibility Gap. That place I’d determined was for other people but now I know is for everyone. Come one, come all, when circumstances that are supposed to be temporary, or compromises for something greater, start to feel “good enough” instead of “good enough for now.” When Mr. Right Now, turns into Mr. Right. When moving for a job becomes staying for life. 

It can swallow you at any age. At any time. But usually is at its widest during the period your contemporary society tells you it’s time to settle down. It’s time to quit. That’s when you’re most tempted to fall in.

gangs kyi yum chen rdo rje g.yu bun ma - Great Glacier Lady of Invincible Turquoise Mist. A protector of the Dharma teachings bound under oath by Padmasambhava. She was formerly a B?npo warrior spirit (dgra lha) [RY]

glags mi rnyed pa - unassailable, invulnerable, invincible [RY]

rgyal dka' - invincible, unconquerable [JV]

rgyal tshab mi pham mgon po - the regent Invincible Protector. Syn Maitreya [RY]

rgyal tshab mi pham mgon po - the regent invincible protector, maitreya [IW]

btul thabs med pa - invincible, invulnerable [JV]

thub med - invincible [RY]

'thab na mi rgyal med pa - invincible [IW]

'thab na mi rgyal med pa'i mtshon cha - invincible weapon [IW]

rdo rje - Vajra. 'Diamond,' 'king of stones.' As an adjective it means indestructible, invincible, firm etc. The ultimate vajra is emptiness, the conventional vajra is the ritual implement of material substance [RY]

pham - a loss; defeat, disappointment, {mi pham} invincible], to lose, be defeated, fail, failure; downcast, defeated [RY]

pham nyes gtong mi thub pa - undefeatable, invincible [IW]

pham nyes su gtong mi thub pa - undefeatable, invincible [IW]

pham pa - vincibility; vincible [RB]

pham pa - 1) defeat; 2) the defeating acts, which cause one to lose one's monastic ..., defeating act[s]; major transgressions, or "defeating acts." 3) to be defeated, lose, fail; vincibility; vincible [RY]

pham mi - invincible [RY]

ma pham - invincible, unconquerable, Lake Manasarovar [IW]

ma pham - invincible [RY]

ma pham - invincible, unconquerable [RY]

ma pham pa - 1) invincible; 2) (met) Maitreya/Manjushri)/ [Ajita, the indefeatable maitreya epithet of maitreya mt kailash, and Ajita = 1 of the {'phags pa'i gnas brtan bcu drug - 16 staviras/ arhants) the invincible buddha/manjushri [IW]

ma pham pa - Ajita, the Undefeatable. 1) Maitreya. 2) Mt. Kailash, 3) Ajita. one of the {'phags pa'i gnas brtan bcu drug} the sixteen [staviras] / [arhats]. the Invincible, [1. Buddha. 2) Manjushri.]; Ajita, the Undefeatable, (Maitreya); invincibility; invincible [RY]

ma pham pa - invincibility; invincible (one of seven vajra qualities) [RB]

ma pham pa - epithet of maitreya, unconquerable, Invincible, lord, invincible, Ajita, Invincible, name for maitreya [JV]

ma pham pa - 1) invincible; 2) Maitreya/ Manjushri)/* [IW]

ma pham pa - Invincible One, an epithet of Maitreya. Ajita, the Undefeatable, Undefeatable [RY]

mi rgyal ba med pa - invincible, ever-victorious [IW]

mi rgyal med pa - invincible, ever-victorious [IW]

mi thub zla ba - Invincible Moon, one of the mahasiddhas [RY]

mi thub zla ba - the mahasiddha Invincible moon [IW]

mi pham - Ajita, invincible, unconquerable, maitreya, mipham rinpoche [1846 - 1912 great nyingma lama and rime teacher) [IW]

mi pham - 1846-1912, scholar in ris med movement, SA 'jam dpal dgyes pa'i rdo rje, 'jam dbyangs rnam rgyal rgya mtsho, invincible [JV]

mi pham - Ajita, invincible, unconquerable, Maitreya, Mipham Rinpoche [IW]

mi pham - Ajita, invincible, unconquerable, [Syn Maitreya] [RY]

mi pham 'jam pa'i dbyangs - Invincible Manjushri [RY]

mi pham pa - unconquerable, invincible [JV]

mi pham pa - invincible [RY]

mi pham pa - 1) Ajita; 2) 2nd of the sthaviras D; 3) unconquerable, invincible) [IW]

mi phams - Ajita, invincible, unconquerable, Maitreya [IW]

mi 'pham - invincible [JV]

mi rdzi ba - indomitable, invincible, unassailable, insuppressible [RY]

gma pham - invincible [IW]

zhang zhung gi dgra lha - War Goddess of Shangshung. A protectoress of the B?npo doctrine. She was subjugated by Padmasambhava and given the name Great Glacier Lady of Invincible Turquoise Mist [RY]

gzhom med - invincible, steady, constant, perpetual, eternal [JV]

gzhom med - invincible, shall be destroyed [RY]