If our brains are wired inappropriately for our present circumstances, and if our instinctive actions are not in our best interests, how is it that we humans can survive and prosper as a race? It turns out that, as individuals, we are at a greater risk from this condition than we are as a group, tribe, nation, or race. Life on the grand scale benefits from stressors, although we do pay attention to what does and doesn’t work for individuals. As someone else steps into the void or acts opportunistically or defensively, there may be distress at the individual level, but benefit to the larger population. The point is that we cannot all be immune from harm; life needs to be stressed in order to be cultivated and to succeed. Look at the example of a well-tended garden; it is beautiful as a result of pruning, cultivation, manipulation, and maintenance. Clearly, at the individual level, we are not willing to volunteer to be pruned, cultivated, manipulated, or maintained. It sounds unpleasant and scary. We as individuals do not wish to be sacrificed for the greater good, as we have a very selfish survival bias.

This bias, which each and every one of us enjoys, does not change the fact that there is going to be pruning, cultivation, manipulation, and sacrifice within the population. We cannot child proof the world. We need to be prudent. Callous disregard for the personal safety of yourself and of your teammates is not sane nor sensible 99.999 per cent of the time. So that begs the question as to what our attitude should be towards this fact of seeming contradiction. Clearly we need to be sensitive to loss, but at the same time we should be grateful for sacrifice when it does takes place. We must search for the lesson, opportunity, or warning that exists within those circumstances so that we can celebrate them, as well as those who have paved the way for us. Should we be the one who is sacrificed, then we should also be grateful that we had an opportunity to have contributed to family, friends, teams, tribes, nations, and the human race. We should be comforted by the knowledge that we contributed and that we did make a difference!

True warriors are secure in the truth about their place in the world. They know that they made a difference and will be delighted that any sacrifice on their part will contribute to furthering the human race … as that is just the way it is. You are warriors and you understand that, to succeed, you must heed the lessons of life and contribute to the world as you proceed along your chosen path. From your learning, you will succeed and profit to a level that will surprise you. So it has been written.