“We are all great warriors, searching for peace.”
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This is for the rough days. The days when you can’t get yourself out of bed. The days when just waking up is a depressing thought and the idea of doing any more than that seems impossible. If you’ve gotten yourself this far, to the point where your eyes are consuming these words and your brain is digesting them, then congratulations on today and every day before it.
There is something that I want to say here that needs a little back story. I currently study Huaquan Kung Fu, a traditional Long fist style of Kung Fu at Worcester Kung Fu. We have a fairly rigorous training session three times a week, but our study is constant.
On rough days, sometimes we say that Today’s class was the next-best Kung Fu class. This is said with the implication that the next class is the best, because it hasn’t come yet, and because above all else, dedication and perseverance are what grant us progress. It is up to us to continue forward, and we do so by having the right outlook.
We are warriors.
So congratulations on today, and yesterday, and every other day you’ve made it through. It’s important and you deserve to be congratulated on making it this far, we all do.
Fear is a superpower. It gives us a new perspective and a heightened sense of self preservation. Fearing your failure can be a strength if you allow it to be.
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Life is not easy all the time; hell, it’s difficult—and it’s difficult most of the time. It seems to us that things will never get better. The hopelessness and self-defeat, and the feeling that life just isn’t fair… Don’t ever let someone tell you that you aren’t entitled to your feelings. Acknowledge them. Embrace them. They are a part of you. And until you accept you for you, you’ll never get to a better life—One where you feel hope renewed rather than hopelessness.
The successful among us know one key thing that the rest of us often forget: and that is, that anything in life worth having takes more effort than you often feel like you have the strength to give. And do not worry about your fear of failure. Fear is a superpower. It gives us a new perspective and a heightened sense of self preservation. Fearing your failure can be a strength if you allow it to be.
We are warriors.
Breakdown: The average lifespan for men around the globe is 65yrs. Seem low? Don’t forget that not all of our countries have the medical advances that those of your reading this are accustomed to. The average male lifespan in Swaziland is just 39.8.
Let’s assume you live to 70. 365 days a year, plus 17 leap year days, over the course of 70yrs, puts you at 25,567 total days of your life. Let’s assume, for the sake of this argument, that you don’t really start learning life lessons and experiences until you are 10, so we take away 3,652 days. According to the World Health Organization, you are going to work roughly 1/3 of your adult life. Roughly another 1/3 of the remaining time, or 1/6 of your total life, you will be sleeping. If you are a healthy person, you spend closer to another 1/3 of your life asleep. That leaves you with 1/3 of that 21,915 — or just 7,305 days.
7,305 days to live, to breathe, to experience.
Realize that your life is exponentially shorter than you think. In the broad expanse of the universe, we’ve been here for merely a blink…
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My point to all this math, is perspective. Realize how much time you spend doing the things you don’t have a choice in doing. Realize that your life is exponentially shorter than you think. In the broad expanse of the universe, we’ve been here for merely a blink in time. So what do you live for? What do you wake up for every morning? What do you day dream about? What makes your heart beat faster?
We are warriors, we fight for what we desire— be it in the rain or fire. We are graced with strengths and weaknesses alike, both of which help us see the light. Our actions and mistakes lead us to our dreams; one more lesson learned, one more truth gleamed. We strive for peace at day’s end, for a world where we don’t break, but bend; and though the clouds bring stormy weather to our shores, we must fight on, for whatever it is that we are fighting for.
I grew up in a trailer that my grandparents let my parents and my sister and I live in.My parents were, and still are, heavy alcoholics. My mother hasn’t held a job since before I was born and my father spent my childhood years hitching a ride to various jobs because of an OUI that lost him his license.
They never once wanted for alcohol or cigarettes though.
We strive for peace at day’s end, for a world where we don’t break, but bend; and though the clouds bring stormy weather to our shores, we must fight on, for whatever it is that we are fighting for.
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My parents never bought me new clothes, that was left up to my grandparents, who thankfully treated me like their son and provided me with the basic amenities that I needed to get through school. I spent much of my childhood outside of the house. There were many nights I spent in the woods, dreaming of a big home with plenty of food, and people that wanted me.
I recently cut ties with my entire family. I have been contemplating changing my last name as a result of the choices they have made. Deep down, I don’t feel like they deserve the legacy that I will leave behind. I want my own life, and I want to create it with my own hands and share it with the people I choose to.
Every day I work towards my dreams. Some days I work harder than others, but each and every one moves me closer to what I ultimately want. This is why I fight. This is why I am here and why I am battling forward, at least in part.
- I fight so that I may relinquish the weight of my toxic family.
- I fight so that I may be stronger than those that I have grown up around; so that I may be stronger than the man I’ve been for years now.
I am a warrior.
I don’t get out of bed because getting out of bed is what I have to do, I get out of bed because if I don’t, I won’t be moving towards my goal and not moving towards my goal would make me just like everyone that I despise—every settler, and enabler, and weak willed liar; every fake, and phony, and fraud; every abuser, user, and loser. Each night I lay myself down, one step closer to the man I want to be—and each morning I rise, a warrior.
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Photo: bobarcpics/Flickr