Warrior Poet Wisdom Vol. VII: Fortitude

Miro

Description

Gone are the days of swords and shields, knights and paladins. But warriors still walk among us. Their strength and grace is as effective in dealing with today's challenges as it was in olden times. Their intensity and resolve can be applied to every task in our day to day lives, from work to working out. Their patience and focus are essential to living a stress-free life. Their courage and fortitude allow us to seek success and happiness, not simply wait for it as so many others do. Their selflessness and love reveals to us the greatest purpose in life: service to others. Their balance and peace ensures that nothing will ever shake any of our other virtues. All of these elements combine to form the greatest inspirational tool of all: wisdom.

Peace + strength + grace + intensity + resolve + patience + fortitude + selflessness + focus + balance + courage + love = wisdom

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie de l'esprit
• Santé et bien-être
• Développement personnel
• Inspirational
• Themes
• Subjects
• Religious
• Poetry

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 13 mars 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456621568
• Langue: English

Extrait

WARRIOR POET WISDOM
 
Vol. VII: Fortitude
 
By Miro


Copyright © 2014 by Miro
 
Cover design & photo by Miro & Luana Mercy
Book design by Miro
Author photo by Luana Mercy
 
All rights reserved.
 
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com
 
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-2156-8
 
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without perm ission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
 
Warrior Poet Wisdom
Visit my website at www.warriorpoetwisdom.com


 
For you.
FOREWORD
 
It’s been a while. No, I haven’t gotten lazy or abandoned this project. I’ve still been writing, but haven’t gotten around to collecting them into the next volume. Much has happened since the last book. My father had a heart attack and is now living with heart failure. A week after his hospital stay, our beloved husky-shepherd of 10 years, Bear, passed away suddenly. And 7 years after our first miscarriage, my wife and I became pregnant again through IVF, only to have another miscarriage 3 months into the pregnancy. I’m sure this might be sad for many to hear, but the whole point of my writings is to remind of the strength we have within us, not only when times are pleasant, but especially when times are difficult. I don’t share these personal experiences with you for your sympathy. I share because Warrior Poet Wisdom was conceived as the most honest of my creative projects. I don’t spin anything here. I don’t add flash and sizzle, embellish or manipulate. I don’t use a stage name. This is my real life, and I hope it serves to remind you that I’m living what I’m writing. Despite all of these losses, nothing has changed. My previous writings don’t retroactively change now because of these new developments. They only resonate with me more. When life beats you down, you can curl up and cry, or you can GET UP and CHARLIE MIKE. All these experiences have served to do is make it clearer to me how many do not make the warrior’s choice of fortitude.
 
Fortitude,
 
INTRO
 
Fortitude
 
Fortitude is courage in
Adversity or pain
Not allowing mind to fret
Or big mouth to complain
 
Fortitude is dropping head
Into a charging stance
And rather than recoiling
Fortitude says, “Advance!”
 
“Attack, endure, withstand, sustain!”
And to always remind:
“I’m not defeated, I’m not done
To my strength I’m not blind”

CHAPTER I: WARRIOR WISDOM
(FUEL)

“If you are going through hell, keep going.”
~Winston Churchill
 
Charlie Mike
 
There will be times in life when you
Feel that you’re overwhelmed
You’ve suffered too much loss and feel
The wheel cannot be helmed
 
It starts to rain and won’t ease up
It just proceeds to pour
It’s in those times you should recall
The words of our brave Corps
 
“ Charlie Mike ” is what troops say
When plans all go to shit
They do not abort their mission
Instead, they deal with it
 
“ Charlie Mike ” from the NATO
Phonetic Alphabet
The letters “ C ” and “ M ” declare
It isn’t over yet
 
It means “ CONTINUE MISSION ” and
It has carried me through
Times of loss and sorrow when
I knew not what to do
 
When I could not devise a plan
In face of all the strife
“ Charlie Mike’s ” the one plan that
Helped me go on with life
 
When your mind is elsewhere and
You’re too focused on grief
“ Charlie Mike ” will move your legs
And help turn a new leaf
 
Regardless of your losses
Even if they’re catastrophic
Keep it simple instead of
Being so philosophic
 
Take note from our warriors
Adorned in camouflage
“ Charlie Mike ” no matter how
Persistent the barrage

“The idea of redemption is always good news, even if it means sacrifice or some difficult times.”
~Patti Smith
 
Take it Back
 
We’re given a life
That is free from all strife
When our mothers give birth
But it soon loses worth
 
Over years from decisions
Of not chasing visions
Of aborting our goals
And allowing our souls
 
To grow too complacent
Focus too much on rent
And material things
Which just emptiness brings
 
And then one day we see
That we’re no longer free
Our lives have been taken
By those who have shaken
 
The truth from our hearts
And imposed shallow parts
Saying money and praise
Is for what we should craze
 
This warrior comes
To bang on battle drums
And to give battle cry:
“Take it back ‘fore you die!”
 
“Take your life back from them
All their concepts condemn
All their fierce competition
And their golden ambition
 
All their status and bragging
Leaves your compassion lagging
All their feeding of pride
Only serves to misguide
 
Shut out all the noise
And regain your true poise
It is time to wage war
On the concept of more
 
On the things they’ve told us:
That we should cause a fuss
Whenever we can’t
Achieve what will enchant
 
Come full circle to
The truth that you once knew
Before they all took
Your true joy with their hook
 
Let go selfishness
And all of the stress
Take your life back and live
For your true purpose: give ”

"If you aren't good at loving yourself, you will have a difficult time loving anyone, since you'll resent the time and energy you give another person that you aren't even giving to yourself."
~Barbara De Angelis
 
In Loving Shape
 
You cannot run a marathon
Unless you’ve done the training
No one wins an election
Without lots of campaigning
 
You cannot be well versed on topics
Without much research
Your soul or spirit cannot grow
If confined to one church
 
In all aspects of life we can’t
Do things we hope to do
Unless we do the work to get
In shape to see it through
 
Which brings us to the people who
Wish they could show more love
Despite their wants, they do not have
Much training to show of
 
And how does one prepare themselves
To love all selflessly?
By loving themselves just as much
To very same degree
 
Much of loving lies in caring
Protecting, defending
How can one love others when
To themselves they aren’t tending?
 
How can someone who abuses
Their body with drugs
Or alcohol or cigarettes
Hope to give loving hugs?
 
How can someone who slowly
Poisons their veins with junk
Clogs their arteries and makes
Their heart strain, lurch and clunk
 
Hope to care for someone else
And rise to do what’s needed
To take care when their own advice
Goes constantly unheeded?
 
How can someone not in shape
From loving their own body
Caring for it, protecting
So that it isn’t shoddy
 
Hope to be in any kind
Of shape to love another?
If you can’t help yourself, how much
Can you do for your brother?
 
Your sister? Mother? Father? Friend?
Your children and your pets?
The most love you can give is the
Same as your body gets
 
So show some love and make the choice
That’s not rooted in craving
Physically and mentally
We should ourselves be saving
 
Not torturing ourselves over
Regrets from the past
And not consuming things that have
Bad effects that will last
 
Get in loving shape by caring
For your own well-being
Then you’ll start to see your love
For others fully freeing

“Leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders.”
~Tom Peters
 
Ronin
 
In feudal Japan there was a
Specific samurai
Called “ Ronin ” who had lost his master
And was urged to die
 
Their loyalty meant much to them
And so it was believed
When the master they served was
Gone, they would not be grieved
 
The samurai would take his sword
And commit seppuku:
Suicide so that to their
Master they could stay true
 
“ Ronin ” was the name given
To those who wouldn’t end
Their own lives and received great shame
From those that did depend
 
Still on living masters, Ronin
Were held with disdain
Labeled outcasts by the others
To wander the plain
 
It wasn’t until recently
That I gave this more thought
I’ve come to see the Ronin as
More than what we’ve been taught
 
The more I’ve pondered, I have seen
The opposite is true
Ronin were not cowardly
‘Cause they did not die too
 
Maybe it took courage to
Live on and serve their King
Although he was no longer there
His teachings could still bring
 
Strength and hope to everyone
And plunging sword in gut
Would make the door on all the things
They could still give slam shut
 
I’ve come to respect Ronin for
Not listening to those
Who’d rather take the easy way
Than dealing with their woes
 
They showed great courage to live on
And turn their backs on men
Who blindly followed without thought
Ignoring their own Zen
 
I do not think the Ronin feared
From death, they were quite brave
To other people’s opinions
And thoughts they weren’t a slave
 
Although their King was gone, to them
He was still very present
They knew it was their duty to
Serve even as a peasant
 
They understood that status wasn’t
What it’s all about
Samurai or Ronin, neither
Label had more clout
 
And with the loss of their master
Responsibility
Was placed upon the Ronin even
Though they were now free
 
Free to go and see and do
Whatever they so pleased
Many of them did not have
A life that became eased
 
They still adhered to the code that
They always had lived by
The world is robbed of that when you
Plunge sword in gut and die
 
As a servant of a King
Who I have never met
“ Ronin ” is a concept that
I will not soon forget
 
I know the Creator exists
But in this mortal form