The Way

"The real Way of the Warrior is based on compassion, wisdom, fearlessness, and love of nature." This world is full of people that take many things for granted. The clothes they wear, the food they eat, the job they have, the people in their lives, the roof over their heads.....the senses they don't truly appreciate, or are naive to fully embracing. They believe these things will always be there. Those people live in complacency and ignorance; "Everything's going to be okay, I have absolutely no reason to worry," "Another day, another dollar, same s***, different day," and "Nothing's going to happen to me, there are billions of other people in this world." This type of thinking could do us in (a Chevelle album reference by the way). Every day is not the same. Anything can happen on the way to work or school; a store can be robbed, a man stabbed, a woman raped. One minute you can be excited about the day, but the next you can have your day shot down by discovering something was stolen from your car or witness your apartment building on fire, or you suddenly have a medical emergency. Random, but not impossible.

As the days go on, more and more I grow accustomed to living outside of complacency. I truly cherish what I have, and who I have. Materialistic items stolen can be bought again (even though it may have been an important gift, or something of a limited number) but people cannot. Once they are gone, there is no bringing them back. Waking up today, I went outside after a good breakfast and the weather was beautiful. The air held a bit of a haze as the sun shone through the trees in the backyard and birds chirped while leaves blew in the satisfying breeze. I inhaled a lungful of air through my nose, held it, then exhaled through my mouth as the breeze picked up slightly. While I was hanging my clothes to dry, I was enlightened to a new feeling, discovering that this is what it is like to live with Bushido....beauty in every breath. With no job all I can do for finances is sell things on ebay, get paid to do chores and maintain the yard and garden. Is this how a noble Samurai lived back in the feudal age? Is this how he felt, to measure life by every breath and practice a ritualistic chore of being? Every single day, wake up, get ready for the day, eat, do chores, read, meditate, train, write, eat, (not necessarily in that order) then turn in and do it all again the next, grateful for the gift of life and ready to die at any moment? If that's how a warrior felt and lived by that great feeling, then I believe I have acquired that awareness on my path to enlightenment and my goals in life. It's just a shame more people can't experience this....because this realization is very pleasing.

"To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order. To put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order. To put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; in order to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right." -Confucius

"Do not look upon this world with fear and loathing. Bravely face whatever the gods offer."

"Unification of body and spirit through the Art of Peace is an exalted state, so high and pleasant that it brings tears of joy to your eyes." -Morihei Ueshiba