U.S. Navy SEAL Team 18 members react in recognition of contributions of former SEALS after a demonstration of combat skills at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida. (REUTERS/Joe Skipper)
Throughout the ages, every great society has celebrated and revered great warrior traditions.
We can look back to the Spartans, Vikings, Samurai, or Aztecs, and find that strong warrior classes coincided with strong nations. However, our society is beginning to shun warriors and lower them on the social ladder.
Warfare has moved away from the martial arts style of combat and towards a more mechanical, detached system. This has changed society’s view of warriors and paved the way toward a society that now teaches our boys to be less masculine.
Too many people think that we can flip a magical switch to activate our warriors and protect our way of life. Then, when the war is over, we turn off the switch and our warriors go back to eating tofu and playing with dolls.
Being a warrior is a full-time job — a way of life that must be trained and tested so we are ready for our enemies’ surprise attacks.
“Warrior” is a recognized role that has played a vital part in every great society. We must continue to embrace and support our warriors if we are to continue being the greatest nation on earth. So stand up with me as we review the traits you’ll need to join the warrior class and live life like a Navy SEAL.
1. Confident — A warrior is sure of himself and has no uncertainty about his own abilities.
2. Decisive — Displaying no hesitation in battle is vital to survival.
3. Strong — You need to have a determined will in all that you do. A strong mind can make up for a weak body, but not the other way around.
4. Skillful — Having the right mindset is vital, but you need a skill set to match.
5. Active — You need to be moving, doing, or functioning at all times. Ideas and theories are great, but action gets things done.
6. Aggressive — Being forceful, bold, and energetic — not a pit bull with a bad owner.
7. Disciplined — Once you have a plan and are confident that you can fulfill it, you must have the discipline required to stick with it.
8. Vigilant — You never know when danger is going to come knocking, and you need to be prepared to react appropriately.
9. Patient — Having patience means bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint.
10. Brave — Brave doesn’t mean you aren’t afraid. It means YOU ARE, but you continue in spite of your fears.
11. Loyal — A warrior needs direction, and that comes from being faithful to a cause, ideal or institution. Loyalty will keep you guided along your path.
12. Loving — A warrior has confronted death and understands the value of life. Warriors whose lives are in balance are peaceful, unselfish and compassionate of others. The love of family gives the warrior his energy to constantly train for battle and the strength to survive once he’s there.
Like yin and yang, warrior traits have two sides. If your life is unbalanced, the dark side will be the stronger force and your actions will demonstrate this fact.
Not being well rounded is the quickest way to become unbalanced. We see this with religious extremists who concentrate so much on loyalty to their religion that they completely neglect things like patience and love.
Suppression of a warrior’s God-given drive will also slowly lead to an imbalance and manifest itself in negative ways. Telling boys it’s wrong to fight is like telling a bird it’s wrong to fly. It will lead to unwanted consequences down the road.
Let’s face it. Many men are less manly than they should be. Professionals tell us it’s OK, and we should eliminate all gender indicators in a quest for equality, but equal does not mean the same.
Luckily, there are a few things you can do to avoid that androgynous nonsense and join the warrior class:
? Have a set of NUTs (Non-negotiable, Unalterable Terms) and live by them! These are anything you’re not willing to compromise in life, period.
? Start practicing some form of martial arts — if you’ve never been hit in the face, go find out what it’s like.
? Meditate. It’s one of the most important things you can do for your mind and body.
? Find something you’re afraid of and go do it. Everyone has fears — warriors overcome them.
? Work out. It doesn’t matter what you do. Breathe hard and sweat.
? Embrace competition. Sign up for a race, a fight or just challenge someone to arm wrestle. Prove that you’re better than someone else at something or work until you are.
? Start establishing routines and habits in everything you do. We are what we repeatedly do.
? Write down your goals and core values. If you don’t have a map for your life, how will you get where you want to go?
? Become a master at everything you do. Everything in life is either worth doing well or it’s not worth doing at all.
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