The Warrior and the Master

The field warrior reacts. The Shaolin Master responds.

By now, we’ve all heard that we should respond, not react. Yet, there are different levels of response. Everyone has a specific way of meeting challenges that is best for them.

The people who raised me came from tough environments. My parents, mentors, community folks taught me to be quick on my feet for a fight. I’ve never felt comfortable being that way, and have since mastered my own unique way of responding to threats, opportunities, and challenges.

I used to avoid even reacting. I was never a field warrior. I was a field mouse, a flat runner. In my earliest years, I would take flight at even the slightest hint of a fight. Once I earned the courage to stand up for myself, I began to realize that every fight was an opportunity to take control of the situation and decide how the rest of it was going to go.

This is deeper than making lemonade out of lemons. It’s much sexier than that. This is planting the seeds for an entire lemon grove and starting an ecological soft drink business.

When life calls you to the mat, the first thing to do is to recognize that you are responsible for how* you answer that call, and that’s a good thing. It’s a gift. Life is giving you a chance to transform aggravation into enlightenment, decrease into increase, a crisis into a calling.

I’m not always sunny when challenges arise. The last few had me seriously questioning whether life was worth living. Recently though, God gifted me with a few aha mfoments to remind me that I can find joy in any crisis because I have something in me that knows how to move things in my favor. We all do. Victory is taking the reins off and letting the leader within be your guiding light.

Remember your vision. Remember your light.

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