SAMURAI GOALS FOR TIMES OF PEACE
SAMURAI: A FIRST PRIORITY
A first daily priority for Samurai was to always remember and uphold the principle of being ever vigilant and prepared for war during times of peace, while simultaneously striving for peace during the chaos of war.
As they went about their daily routine, a truly dedicated samurai understood the importance of constantly honing their skills and maintaining a state of constant readiness for whatever challenges may come their way.
They recognized that true strength lies not only in physical prowess, but also in a calm and centered mind that can navigate even the most tumultuous of times with grace and composure.
OBERSERVATION for today's world
How many times in life have each of us not been prepared for unexpected emotional chaotic life events?
Leaving ourselves unprepared we begin to drown in a sea of trauma, reaching for that single life preserver. Only for it to be just out of reach as we continue to get pulled down deeper, until we cease and let the trauma fully dominate us.
Where does our problem lie?
Well, when life is great and we’re happy, we rarely prepare and strengthen ourselves for the unexpected. Us being human, we often believe that we’re riding on a positive train that won’t ever derail.
Yet, as life ebbs and flows, creating unexpected challenges and lessons, we get caught off guard. And without us taking that time of peace to build and strengthen our proper foundation, we will not be able to manage and overcome the chaos before it erupts.
This should be our goal!
When our life is great and calm, ebbing and flowing with how we envisioned, we should subtly prepare ourselves for unexpected emotional traumatic events. That way in times of chaos we we can effectively achieve true victory with regular self-maintenance through meditation, yoga, tai-chi, martial arts, and my discipline Qigong.
Using the mind to focus and our breath to align ourselves is our start in the right direction.
journal tasks for us
Journaling is a beneficial outlet to strengthen our mind.
There are various ways to journal such as sketching, writing long-form, or writing poetry. There is no definitive one way that is best. It’s about finding what resonates with you to stick with it consistently.
The following is a reworked lesson culled from “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu to help with this week’s journaling.
LIFE LESSON
“Think carefully before going to war.”
“War” decides the future of each of our lives and mindsets, as well as the world on a collective level. Our emotional survival and well-being are affected by how we approach “war”.
THIS WEEK’S JOURNALING
Think back to an incident in your life that caused you duress or stress.
- What was the traumatic event?
- Reliving that event, do you know what were the root causes of it?
- Were you able to fully resolve it? If not, what imprints of unresolved trauma do you feel still plagues you from time to time?
- If you were able to fully resolve it, how has that resolution prepared you for future traumas?