ATTACK – ATTACK – ATTACK!
Whom do you attack? Accidentally or purposefully? What is the purpose of attack? Is it really an attack or is it really a misguided defence? The true warrior knows how easy it is to become misguided and confused when not paying attention to the details of your life.
Are we trying to win the battle? Are we trying to win the war? Or are we trying to be who and what we truly are in each and every moment? Can you see, hear, or feel the difference?
By now you must have realized that winning a battle and winning the war are just snapshots focused on the end game. When we consider regression to the mean1, we see that it isn’t all about winning. It is all about continuous improvement. It is all about incremental achievement. It is all about the journey.
When caught in a cross current, how do we survive? We don’t swim against the current. We don’t get carried out to sea. No. Instead, we swim across the current, incorporating the current into our strategy. In Judo, the weight and motion of our opponent is used to defeat him or her, which requires not brute strength or overwhelming fire power but technique, wisdom, and the ability to read the signs.
DEFEND – DEFEND – DEFEND!
What are you defending? What shall we defend? What is worth defending? What yardstick shall we use? Do we have a built in defence system? Do we ever react? Lash out? Strike back? Extract revenge? Develop resentment? Meet out punishment? Again, the true warrior knows how easy it is to become misguided and confused when not paying attention to the details of your life.
So, do we do all these things? Of course we do. We all do, and it is often without thinking. We are defending something we hold precious: an idea, belief, or opinion … something in our magic minds. We are reacting from a grey and fearful place.
This is not the way of the true warrior. Consider a black belt in any of the martial arts. This warrior acquires and practices skills to be able to automatically respond appropriately in a situation, so as to defend and achieve success in every encounter. Success is not measured in victory, but in the personal achievement of each and every encounter. This may look like reacting but it is not. It is a disciplined and emotionally contained execution of developed skills, and that is our goal as warriors.
We do not defend our micro-selves by attacking, reacting, and causing ourselves grief. No. true warriors embrace their higher calling to become what they truly are. They respond!
You are warriors. You will be the finest examples of a life well lived. It is not about individual battles. It is not about winning and losing. It is all about demonstrating your talents for our mutual benefit. So it has been written.