Finding the Warrior

Lately, life has been a little disconcerting. Unfortunately, there has been sorrow, despair, loss and grief.  It seems as if it is following the typical Utah weather patterns of spring…sunny one day with spring flowers, the next cold with snow.  It reminds you that the world gives and takes, expands and contracts and as we get caught up in the ups and downs of our individual experiences, life, by its very nature is somewhat unreliable. It is with this ebb and flow that brings this post.  My current reflections have turned to the different perspectives on life’s challenges, both the internal and external battles, we all face at one time or another in our lives, sometimes even daily.

I find life’s kaleidoscope of differing perspective, intriguing as I step back and ponder my own challenges as of late.  Once again on the internal conflicts we fight as well as the external battles we wage against ourselves and others.

I realize we are all unique, and as my nephew reminded me, our actions are based on our own set of experiences and clearly different motivations drive our thoughts, opinions and actions based on our individual experiences, beliefs and values. And, some points of view can appear the same but in all reality they are still different, in small subtle ways.  I personally, enjoy hearing other points of view as it increases my own understanding and knowledge. I think it’s important to remember that it is how we react to those differing opinions that shape our character. Love and acceptance inhibits judgements and prevents entrance to bickering and debates and while that is a great lesson, it’s a hard one for us to command (especially in every situation).  We all react, celebrate and grieve in our own way. We are human, we feel the full spectrum of emotions, even in a single day. Heaven knows lately, I’ve experienced a full range of emotions, even in the span of a few hours.

Sometimes life is gentle and easy and sometimes life is a struggle. What I have come to realize (and hang onto) is that we are all warriors.  Now a warrior is defined in many ways, with many descriptors from brave to courageous, disciplined to determined and yes, even compassion.   I came across a quote by Steven Pressfield - Each of us struggle every day to define and defend our sense of purpose and integrity, to justify our existence and to understand, if only within our own hearts, who we are and what we believe in.  We each have a warrior inside us willing us to fight and survive to fight injustice, start new chapters, even to walk away from things that will hurt us.  We just have to find that warrior when it’s buried under the rubble of battlefields we’ve already conquered.

We have many weapons at our disposal and only we know when and what weapons help or hinder the continuing fight.  Sometime we forget to draw upon them or choose to fight the battle on our own, when there are others willing to help us fight. Life itself is a great teacher is we take the lessons we've learned and put them in our arsenal.

And then I am reminded there comes a time when we no longer have battles to fight and we’re called home.  Usually we never know when we will be called and I’ve been reminded a lot lately that life is short.  As I step outside my own personal battles, of course I am reminded that the choices I have made are mine alone. I’m the one that has brought me to where I am. I'm the one that has to choose a path moving forward and what I want that path to be.  Granted, there is only some measure of control, but regardless of what the universe has planned, I hope we can all choose well, show love and extend that love not just to those in our circle, but beyond. That while we have battles to fight, life is truly extraordinary. Embrace it. Fight it. Live it.