I read an article today in The Art of Manliness blog. It is called The Warriors Guide to True Manliness and it identifies several ideas that resonated deeply with me. The first is that within every man lives an intact warrior instinct that waits to be awoken and to drive men to greatness. Warriors throughout time have been driven by survival instinct and fear of death. Men must contend with survival of the fittest daily. A quote from the blog is: "Without this fundamental understanding about life's impermanence and an obligation to achieve greatness we become complacent and unmotivated in life."
The first step to living life like a warrior is to Master your Body. We can understand the physical benefits of being in shape but the mental discipline of overcoming laziness and physical pain brings even greater benefits in my opinion and is essential to the Warrior lifestyle.
The most impactful concept for me was to Use Death as your Guide. If we kept in mind that we could die at any moment, would we sit around doing anything that did not make an impact. Video games, watching inane television, commiserating and perseverating on the difficulties in life all come to mind as incredible misuse of the limited time we have here.
Choose your Path with your Heart. If it is true that all paths lead to the same place, Death, then choose the one that makes you happy in the moment. Choosing a path that will eventually make you happy and with Death knocking on your door is incongruent and wasteful.
Fight Every Battle as if it is your Last. With Death as my Guide I will live more completely and in the present moment. Fighting every battle as if it is my last will push me to greatness.
I believe these concepts resonate within men and women alike. It is true that we are made differently, women being more nurturing sometimes, however, I do believe that alot of women have the battle instinct. I have found in my life that I'm alot tougher than even I ever thought I was. I know I will survive "now" what would have destroyed me in the past. My pleasures and enjoyment have evolved as my life progresses. I love what I do and that inspires me to work hard and get the resources to finance what is important to me. Thanks for sharing this Rolando.....just wanted to give a "nod" to the women as well! You always have great thoughts to share and I appreciate you. - Kathy Moore
ReplyDeleteThank you Kathy! I appreciate and value your input.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff!!! If we follow those four simple concepts we would achieve everything we set out to accomplish!!!
ReplyDeleteshaun