Who are some of the first people that come to your mind when
you think of a warrior? What sort of
battles have these folks faced? What
does it mean to you? How does it affect
your life? What does it make you FEEL?
For me it’s the story of David and Goliath, the epic journey
of the 1980s USA hockey team in the Olympics, and the kids who day after day
fight a disease that works without hesitation to consume them. It’s the story of patience and perseverance;
the story of believing against all the odds and having confidence in your God-given
purpose. The feeling I get when I
reminisce on how fierce of a fight my beloved father waged against renal cancer. He might have lost the war, but he fought
every battle with valor and strength! He
did not let his attitude or circumstances consume him. He left a legacy that I want the
world to know about. These things ignite
feelings of freedom, of being fully myself, of waving a flag of victory even
when I either feel completely defeated or all aspects of the situation I am in
point towards loss. It’s believing that
despite the outcome my efforts have not been in vain, that my time has not been wasted.
I recently watched the movie Warrior. One part of the
movie that struck me was how one of the characters saw an opportunity that
seemed to be well beyond his reach, but went for it anyhow. He seemed to stare fear straight in the face
and say, “bring it on.” He had
confidence in himself and his purpose.
He knew the odds were completely against him and challenged them to defy
him anyway.
There have been a great many circumstances in my life in
which I’ve let fear take my hand and help me head in the opposite direction of
the challenges I’ve faced. On the other
hand, I know I’ve been just like the character in Warrior and like David in the story of David and Goliath: I’ve
looked fear in the face and still took my best shot. I believe God was there with me at each step
and that he has worked to ensure that all things work for His good. In addition, I believe that each subsequent step
helped prepare me for what is to come, that my efforts, even when I failed, were
all part of my beautiful, purposeful life. We must take responsibility for our
wrong-doings and mistakes and losses but also our triumphs and extra big wins
and everything in between. The pieces
TOGETHER make up our beautiful, purposeful lives.
I wrote most of this blog post over 2 weeks ago. I had no idea that waiting to post this would
fit so perfectly with my most recent experiences. Mainly, the opportunity I had to attend an
event at Chapman surrounding Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild. She and the other
speakers, four Chapman professors, talked about things like fear, knowing
ourselves, vulnerability, and the concept of home.
I read Wild one
year before my Mom died. I saw the movie
7 months after she died. I heard Cheryl
talk in person, about losing her mom and hiking the PCT searching for herself,
2 ¾ months after that. Experiencing
these things and sitting listening to Cheryl with my amazing twin sister,
Ashley, cleansed my soul. It helped me
know I am not alone. We are not
alone. We have a responsibility to
ourselves to grow the warriors inside of us and to not give up. We are responsible for our choices and it is
up to us to act with integrity, truth, and benevolence and to make a stand for
who we are and what we believe. If we
see an opportunity to personify the warriors inside of us and to make a mark on
the world we live, we should make a move.
When you challenge a warrior the warrior has an opportunity
to rise and fight, to stand for their purpose; a purpose so much greater than
what one person can imagine. It’s
important that we stay prepared to fight, that we feed ourselves and surround
ourselves with life-giving people, places, things; that we are aware of our
attitudes and work to live with positivity despite our circumstances.
I’ve made some really hard decisions about what I choose to
do with my life, how I choose to spend my time, and what I choose to purchase
with my money. I try to be very
intentional about these things and I expect a lot from myself through the
choices I make. I make these choices
because I know they effect how I grow, which effects how I impact other
people. I’m feeding the warrior inside
of me so I can feed the warrior inside of you.
We can make a difference by living out our purposes, being who we are,
and taking responsibility for the lives that we live.
I'm so grateful for the life I have been given. I am blessed to have you all in my life and I am looking forward to our futures. One of my favorite jams right now is a Ben Rector song called Fear I think it fits well with this topic. You should check it out!
