“Galvanization is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanization, in which parts are submerged in a bath of molten zinc. Galvanizing protects in two ways:
it forms a coating of corrosion-resistant zinc which prevents corrosive substances from reaching the more delicate metal
the zinc serves as a sacrificial anode (electrolysis) so that even if the coating is scratched, the exposed steel will still be protected by the remaining zinc.
The term is derived via French from the name of Italian scientist Luigi Galvani. Originally, galvanization was the administration of electric shocks, in the 19th century also termed Faradism. This sense is the origin of the meaning of the metaphorical galvanize into action referring to suddenly stimulating a complacent person or group to take action.” [Wikipedia]
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At some point in our lives – if we ever hope to make a full distance run, we need to get “Galvanized”.
The “metal” that’s in us needs to acquire some thick skin and it could use some sacrificial armor – most of which is provided early on by parents and by the extended fabric of the gratuitous community-at-large.
But this early armor is friable and evanescent – “sacrificiality”, by definition, having its innate limitations.
Those who develop effective, internally regenerative galvanization fare best, overall.
Independently generated galvanization usually happens by the “hot-dip” method in the wake of a calamitous Defining Moment – a “Moment of Truth” … a point beyond which we never-so-much-too-soon realize “life will never be the same again” (as if it ever WAS!)
Unlikely Champions generally get their life-defining Moments of Truth early. Through imperfections at birth, abject poverty, severely compromising accidents, or not-so-mere discrimination – or, in some cases, through catastrophic combinations – such individuals come face-to-face with the reality that their lives will never follow a perceived “normal” progression. Yet astonishing numbers continue to rise well “beyond their station”.
[NOTE: The “galvanization” of Unlikely Champions also serves as a “lightening rod” for infusions of energy and support from substantially significant others.]
War Cry of the Unlikely Champion
“I’m not going to make it unless I give it everything I’ve got …
and, even then, it’s not guaranteed …
but I’m willing to die trying!”
A preferred alternative “Galvanization” method is to cultivate a larger-than-life (as we currently know it) DREAM, MISSION, PURPOSE … dare we say CRAVING.
What galvanized “The Greatest Generation” (Tom Brokaw) was the desire – the NEED, in most cases – to “better their own circumstances”. After the horrendous nightmares of WWI and the Great Depression, which essentially lasted to and through WWII, they had little more than desperation to drive them onward and thin shards of hope to pull them through. Through the rear-view mirror of the “Roaring 20s”, through multiple experiences of winning against imponderable odds with more-than-equally imponderable sacrifice, through the resulting conviction that they had it within themselves to create a better day, and through the lens of burgeoning opportunity, they saw a “Promised Land” of possibilities they would not be denied.
“When we were growing up, we didn’t have a steady supply of food on the table or a reliable roof over our heads, never mind a room of our own or a television. And five kids had to share one bike and a bathroom. Now that’s motivation!”
[Reference lost]
Future generations, who became accustomed to the unprecedented fruits of such effort being readily and almost universally available – as presumptive “entitlements” – considered the effort excessive, unreasonable and unnecessary.
Unfortunately, momentum requires constant reinforcement. Even well-oiled machines need a source of energy. Steam engines need steam, steam boilers need fire, and fire requires fuel.
The Second Law
“Any system left to itself will tend toward the state of greatest disorder.”
We need to restore “order”. Let’s get “GALVANIZED”!
“I’m HERE and this is NOW!
What can I do HERE and NOW
to keep NEXT from running off the tracks?”
Quartermaster
