Bear with me - a story for the bear market
The ancient Indo-Europeans, from whose language most of our languages derive, had words for all the common animals around them except one: the bear.
DO NOT SUMMON THE BEAR!
Some say they feared the bear so much they dared not speak its name --
DO NOT SUMMON THE BEAR!
-- while others say the bear was sacred to them, and you do not speak of the Most Holy.
DO NOT UTTER ITS NAME!
I say: not talking about the bear was a test.
Everyone knew it existed.
Everyone knew they might meet it.
Everyone knew it was dangerous.
But you don't talk about it.
This -- the bear -- is the one thing you have to face without preparation, without planning, without assurances.
Speaking about the terrifying thing renders it harmless. Making plans for defeating it lulls you into a false sense of security. Those who speak of the bear will seem like experts, and everyone else will lean back and expect the experts to deal with it when it comes.
DO NOT SPEAK OF THE BEAR.
When the bear comes, everyone's real nature is revealed. The coward is revealed as a coward. Those who stay together to fight, without words, will recognize each other. Those who enter the fray for the first time, without preparation or orders, show their courage.
DO NOT SUMMON THE BEAR.
It will come on its own when you are least expecting it. Then you will show if you are ready, and you will see whom you can trust.
Bear with me.