 It is the one thing that we all strive to avoid at all costs. We find the mere mention of this word to be utterly abhorrent and wickedly distasteful. What word am I referring to? Suffering.
I want you to pause for just a moment, close your eyes and say that word, "Suffering" out loud. Examine it in your imagination. What do you see? What images does your mind place before your eyes? It is highly unlikely that you envisioned anything pleasant, uplifting, or motivational. My question to you however is this: Why not? Why do you only associate suffering with pain, ignominy, discomfort, and undesirability? I challenge you to begin to associate suffering with nobility, honor, motivation, goodness, and virtue. Suffering is your friend. The more you believe this, the more your life will be drastically upgraded and you will begin to see some major progress in your life. Here are some things about suffering and some silliness about human nature. I am going to propose the following items as universal axioms – feel free to disagree … (at your own risk). Axiom #1: You Cannot Avoid All Suffering. Do you disagree? I think it is fairly obvious that you cannot escape all suffering. Can you prevent, avoid and hide from some of it? Of course. But there is no way to avoid it all. Suffering is going to happen to you. You will suffer from your own decisions and choices (i.e.: things you can control) or you will suffer due to outside forces acting upon you (things you cannot control). Axiom #2: Given the truth of Axiom 1, it is silly, stupid and ridiculous to go through life thinking you will not have to suffer. Seems pretty obvious as well yes? Why do you and I get so upset when we suffer? If we suffer the slightest affront, insult, inconvenience, etc. why do we become so put out? Who do you and I think we are? That is good content for another blog, but at for now, I'll just say that I think it is your over-inflated ego. “ME?” Your ego asks, “You mean I have to suffer? Surely I am above such things?” If this was a texting conversation between you and “Life” this is the part where “Life” would text back, “LOL”. So what is the solution? You have already agreed that all suffering is not avoidable – this means you are going to suffer. You have no choice in the matter. You have also agreed that it is petty and stupid that you act so put out when you do suffer (since you know you are going to suffer ahead of time). The solution I wish to propose to you is taken from the ancient wisdom of warriors all over the world and across all cultures and time periods. SOLUTION: Embrace suffering. Do not fear suffering. Rather, fear a lack of suffering. If you are not suffering at all, odds are, your character is not growing, improving or upgrading. When I say suffering, I mean it in the broadest spectrum terms possible. You getting cut off in traffic can be suffering. You only getting a 65% on your last exam when you thought you aced it could be suffering. Obviously, your suffering could be more earth shattering like the sudden death of a family member, or being told you have cancer. Whatever your suffering is, embrace it. Let me state it another way: Think about how much anxiety, depression, worry, stress and overall fear is caused by you and I not wanting to suffer. Picture it in your mind. Really think about this with me: What is the origin of most of your chronic stress, pain, and anxiety? Odds are, it centers around you wanting to avoid suffering. If this is true, then if you can transform yourself into someone who embraces suffering; as someone who sees suffering as an opportunity to grow in virtue and upgrade your character, you just nullified most if not all of the power that suffering has over your life. Fear of suffering is what holds you and most people back from accomplishing basically anything. You won't ask that girl out you've had a crush on because she might say no and cause you to feel the suffering of rejection. You won't have that difficult conversation with your child about pre-marital sex because you will have to feel the suffering of being uncomfortable and not knowing exactly how to broach the subject. You won't get up and start working out like you know you need to because you might have to suffer the pain of feeling tired by waking up early than you are used to. Can you come up with an example in your own life where suffering is controlling you and stopping you from doing something you need to do? Let me be VERY clear. I am not advocating for masochism or self-harm to “increase your suffering”. But can you make yourself uncomfortable? Sure. Remember, I don’t just mean physical suffering but suffering in a broad spectrum sense. Begin to endure suffering to your ego by allowing yourself to get cut off in traffic, and do not respond with your usual slew of expletives. Let your spouse say something you don’t entirely agree with, but let it stand unchallenged and suffer your ego to be silenced. Even if you are going through great pain, I challenge you to view it through the prism of “how can this be used to benefit me and my loved ones?” I am by no means an expert at this. I am human just like you – but that is what makes our striving noble. We strive against our weaker self; and do you know what? It feels damn good to know that in any given situation, you took control and didn’t allow suffering to beat you. If you visualize suffering as a human enemy seeking to destroy you, are you going to let it? When suffering “breaks into your home” late at night seeking to deal death to you and your family, are you going to capitulate or are you going to fight? Fight against suffering by removing it’s power through acceptance then through embracing. I want to offer a final analogy that may be helpful. When fighting, you can usually do one of two things against an enemy trying to exert a force against you – push back against it, or go with it. I submit that the more you try to push back against suffering, the more it overcomes you. You become more stressed and for good reason. Does it take more energy to walk against the current of the river or with it? If you can embrace suffering and “flow with it”, I think you will find you have drastically cut out a great deal of stress, pain and agony from your life. Remember, fighting doesn’t always mean pushing back. Sometimes, fighting means embracing, going with, or receiving. Do not fear suffering anymore. For it is not your master. You are your master. You control yourself. If you don’t, this is why fear, suffering and pain control you. How has that been going for you so far? Live in the suffering-ground, Alexander Lanshe Sensei
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 I recently saw a meme as I was scrolling through my Facebook feed. I forget who posted it but the content is extremely relevant for you. It said,
“Nobody needs a $3000 AR-15 Rifle. They need a $700 AR-15 Rifle and $2300.00 worth of training.” - Facebook Meme Boy aint that the truth? It is a peculiar aspect of human nature that we tend to spend more time and money on things that don’t really “get to the point” of something. Have you noticed this? Investing in an AR-15 is a good step in arming yourself for personal protection. However, that is just the beginning. What is more important? The weapon or the training? You may need a weapon to protect yourself but without good training, it may not matter. Especially when it comes to firearms, the consequences of your negligence, naiveté, or misconceptions could do more damage than prevent damage. This is true however for ALL weapons training. I know so many people who carry folding knives for example and yet, they have never trained with it. They carry pepper spray, or stun guns, and have never trained with them. They don’t practice drawing them from concealment, they don’t practice using it to strike a target … they buy it, carry it, and that’s where the journey ends. You are not like them however, you know better. As this meme stated, you would be better served to save some cash on the weapon and invest the difference that you saved in good, quality training with that and other weapons. You should invest in unarmed solutions as well because what happens if your weapon doesn’t work, cannot be accessed in time, or is taken or lost during your fight? Do you have any other skills? I recently completed two Personal Protection seminars with groups of women who are members of the Well-Armed Woman LLC. They meet to discuss and shoot firearms, go over safety, proper cleaning and storage techniques, etc. This is AWESOME training and I recommend our Stark County Ohio Chapter and it’s leaders, Susan Brenner and Amanda Thorne highly. However, these women were very smart to seek out personal protection training that dealt with other options and aspects to fighting. The gun may jam, you may run out of ammo and the fight isn’t over, etc. Do you have other skills? These women do now thanks to their personal investment into high-quality training. I do not want you to fall for the myth that once you buy a weapon you are safe. That is a false reality and a potentially harmful illusion. My mentor, John Viol Shihan, once said, “Buying a guitar no more makes me a musician than buying a firearm makes me a warrior. Just because I bought that guitar doesn’t mean I can play it.” How true and wise words that I hope you take to heart. I, my colleagues and comrades are here to provide modern personal protection solutions for you and your family, company, group. Etc. Do not continuing deceiving yourself into thinking you are safe simply because you bought a gun. Get training. If I cannot provide you with the answers to what you seek or the training you desire, trust me when I say I am plugged in to the sources who can. What to do Force on Force firearm training with airsoft pistols where you shoot at real attackers? I know a guy. Want to do grappling and percussion training with your firearm, knife, flashlight or cell phone? I know lots of guys. Want to learn unarmed tactics and solutions for striking and grappling when a weapon isn't available? You guessed it, I know some guys (and gals). Want a greater insight into the criminal mind and the psychology of predators? I know a guy. Chances are, I know someone who can help you with your question and your problem. But you must ask. My network and affiliation with Martial Sciences International provides me with access to the core and hub of all things martial. I have also interviewed nearly 100 professional protectors from various fields of study, occupation and expertise. Trust me, I know someone who can help you. All you have to do is molon labe… I conduct weekly personal protection training and I am internationally licensed from the highest martial authority in the world – if you have a training problem you want solved, ask me to solve it. Invest in a good, functional weapon that doesn’t break your bank account and invest the difference in good, quality training. I know of nothing better to upgrade your personal, professional and protector life with than authentic, reality-based martial training. I can help you with that and so can my network and colleagues. What kind of training would you like? What personal protection or self-defense problem are you facing? Take action today and get answers and solutions. Email me at info@AlexLanshe.com to request training. You know in your heart if you have the training necessary to succeed. You can squash your anxiety and worry by taking action and getting training. As Lt. Col. Grossman once famously said, “Preparation cures paranoia”. The “cure” awaits you on the battleground. Molon labe… Alexander Lanshe Sensei  Love. What does that word mean to you? Close your eyes and imagine what love looks like, sounds like and feels like. What are you feeling right now? Whatever it is, I can tell you it isn’t love.
How do I know this? Because you’ve been lied to about the nature of love. Those feelings you just had while you were imagining ‘love’ are just that – feelings. They are not love itself. They are byproducts that occur at times when we are receiving happy emotions. Feelings are fickle – feelings change. If your love for someone is based upon how you feel, it is my contention that you do not really love them - you are a slave to your feelings. Our modern culture preaches this lie constantly. "Love is a feeling and you must dance to it's music." Warriors know that this is nonsense. Having interviewed over 100 professional protectors in my life, the ones who have served in real combat and faced real death for a comrade do not have love based on feelings. Because if you are staring down death you will not FEEL like fighting or dying for someone else. Your feelings are fickle and in that moment they will want to protect YOU from dying, not those of your comrades. Yet some protectors put themselves at risk for others. Why? How? One reason I contend is that it is because their idea of love is not based or rooted in how they feel. How they feel is a byproduct of their free will choice to love. St. Augustine once said that love is a “fierceness without bitterness”. Ponder the meaning of this for there is much wisdom to be gained from it. A fierceness without bitterness. Ferocity implies a highly active nature – love is not passive. Feelings based love is passive – it removes you from being in control of yourself. This is the most insidious part of feelings based love. It is rarely spoken anymore that you should control your emotions, feelings, and passions. It is even more rarely spoken that some of your feelings that you have are illicit and wrong. The new age man tells you that all your feelings are good and maybe even divine but this is a major lie that if believed will cause you untold unhappiness and unrest. True love, the love a protector has for his comrades, the love a mother has for her child, wills the good of the other regardless of how you are feeling at the time. Love also wills the good of the other for their own sake – it is altruistic. This is why your father might have rebuked your bad behavior or your mother may have scolded you for disobedience – because they cared for you as you, not for what pleasure you could bring them. C.S. Lewis wrote of, The 4 Loves. A brilliant work I recommend to your attention. The type of love that is true love, as Lewis describes it, which goes beyond mere romantic attraction, is agape or charity - the God love. It is love that is unchanging due to circumstances. I firmly believe that this type of love has been largely erased from our culture and replaced with passions, impulses, and self-gratification. True love is ultimately grounded in truth despite what the current culture may say. True love is not selfish and self-seeking. This leads me to my final point in today’s blog; many people today, especially in the Western world, have swallowed the lie (either consciously or subconsciously) that love is about what someone else can do for you – and worse still, that love is about how someone else makes you feel. The truth is, they cannot make you “feel” any particular way, for the control of how you feel lies within your dominion. But if you believe love is a feeling, it absolves you of any responsibility for your emotions & feelings. That is the lie. You are always in control. You may not always choose to exercise that control, but it lies within your power to do so. True love is the love that holds protectors and their teams together. When you know that the man on your left or right would die for you for your own sake, then you have trust. Now you can accomplish great things. How does this relate to you? Have you fostered relationships in your personal life that are based on love the feeling or love the free assent of your will? Do the people around you love you and you love them based on a mutual consent of both parties willing the good of the other, ever seeking to better, serve and support one another? Or do the people you have surrounded yourself with only seek to take from you? Do they only “love” you based on the feelings they get from being with you? It’s never too late to build new relationships on a solid foundation or to cast off bad relationships. Begin assessing your own life today, right now. Begin with yourself – what is your vision of love? What do you believe love to be? Does your vision need upgraded and updated? Have you swallowed any lies that the mainstream fed to you? Only you can answer these questions. Protectors have known what true love is ever since there have been protectors. It is up to you whether or not you wish to claim their age old wisdom for your own life. Live with virtue my fellow warrior, ~Alexander Lanshe  Do you believe that the answer to all your problems lies within you? Have you ever seen some "motivational" meme on the internet saying something like, "You are enough - the answer lies within you!"? When you read or heard that ... did you believe it?
I used to believe it. At age 22 I was first exposed to the self-help world and messages like this run wild in that industry. "You are enough", "The answer lies within", "Look inside yourself" etc. They sound true at first glance, at least, they appeal to every human's over inflated sense of self (the ego) which makes us want to believe it is true. It certainly appealed to my ego. Only one small problem ... it isn't true. I want to categorically state and tell you right here, right now that all those mantras are complete and utter garbage. They are devoid of truth and amount to nothing more than dust in the wind. You don't have all the answers inside you, and the solutions to the problems in your life cannot be found sitting in a lotus position inside your "inner mind/heart/soul/consciousness/whatever-other-term-you-can-think-of". It's BS. Think about it... Did you go to college? If so, why? Don't you know that the answer to everything lies within? Why did you bother seeking knowledge from an outside source? (I.e.: All your college teachers, classmates, advisers, etc.). I bet you went to college because you knew that there was something you wanted to learn, and the answer wasn't just sitting inside you waiting to be discovered - you had to look outside yourself and find it. The same is true in the protector world. After doing nearly 100 interviews with some of the finest protectors (men and women) on the planet, if there is one thing they all agree on, it is that a protector MUST continually learn, study, train and seek counsel from more experienced, learned and knowledgeable protectors. If a protector had "all the answers within" he wouldn't need to train. The military and police academies would just need to tell their people, "You have it all inside you. Therefore, here is your badge, uniform, gun and mission. Go do it." In case you didn't know, this isn't how it works. They are submitted to training, many must continue to pass standards and exams throughout their entire career and the good ones seek self-learning on their own regardless of what the department pays for. Let's pause a moment here and deal with an objection I can already hear you making in your mind. "But Alex, those sayings of 'you are enough' and 'the answer lies within' are not meant to be taken literally. They are meant to empower the person, to give them self-confidence, and to raise self-esteem." I assert that even in this context, it is still garbage. Worthless and purposeless. How so? You are not enough in your current state to accomplish the things you wish to accomplish. Let me explain: If you are single but want to get married, I hope you realize that you will need to learn, grow, adapt, and upgrade yourself in order to make marriage work. You aren't "enough" as you currently are. If you start working at a company as a GOFER (go for this, go for that) and you want to be CEO someday, I hope you realize that the skills, knowledge and abilities you possess as a GOFER are not enough to be CEO. You must grow, adapt, and upgrade. This seems fairly obvious when put in context like this. So why do these "you are enough" mantras and myths get so well circulated? As I alluded to earlier, they appeal to one of mankind's greatest flaws and natural weaknesses - excessive self-love, pride and ego. It makes us FEEL really good to think that we already possess everything we need. How flattering. If only it were true. It also is meant to appeal to your abject laziness. News flash: human nature is lazy. This is universal and is not dependent on culture or upbringing. It takes EFFORT and HARD WORK to overcome this laziness. You see, if the answer lies within, that gives you the excuse you want to not have to get up and go seeking. It absolves you from having to exert any effort and gaining new skills, becoming more virtuous, or at maintaining or building relationships. Too bad reality doesn’t match this utopia. My newest book that I am writing deals with the virtues that make protectors successful. What I have found in my study on virtue is that it is something which must be searched for, strove for, and struggled to acquire. If you believe the lie that "all lies within you", you will not pursue virtue because you will ignorantly or arrogantly think that all the virtue you need already resides within. Nothing could possibly sabotage your life and growth more. If you are honest with yourself, you know you could be more patient, more humble, more courageous, and more grateful. You know you struggle with certain vices and that they are damaging you in your heart, mind, soul and body. Yet, you reassure yourself by repeating the lie you've been told countless times, "You are enough. The answer lies within." No. It doesn't. Virtue is something to be pursued, it is a quest you take and it's very much an external journey. Isn't that the whole point? To become better and something greater than you were before? How would that be possible if all the answers already were inside you? What these mantras are implying is something even more insidious, “You are perfect just the way you are.” Another complete, utter, BS lie. I know that I am personally NOT perfect. I have many flaws that I must struggle against each day or else they will destroy me. This is true of all humans – including you. You are not perfect the way you are. You never have been, and you never will be – that’s the point of the journey. To strive to reach the summit of perfection that you know you cannot attain. That’s what makes your struggle noble. It is like the warrior who knows that he is going to die in battle. The enemy has overrun you and your comrades and death is staring you in the face. Rather than quit because it is “hopeless”, the warrior defiantly faces death and says, “Do your worst. I will survive and if I don’t, I’m taking you with me.” That is the nature of life; your life. Another reason this lie is so dangerous is because it kills your drive to pursue, to go on a quest, to seek. If you already had enough food in your fridge and it could never run out, why would you go to the grocery store? You wouldn't. All the food you need is already within your home. Reality is a little b**** though, because your fridge doesn't magically replenish itself, and NEITHER DOES YOUR HEART! Did you catch that? Let me repeat it because this is a MAJOR point: Just as your fridge isn't going to magically fill up with food, your heart is not going to magically fill up with virtue when you've exhausted the little you had. If you don't seek virtue from good books, good audio programs, good mentors, good teachers, good comrades, good environments and a good God, your heart will not be magically filled. You must go fill it and you must gather the information, knowledge, virtue, etc. from outside yourself. How often must you do this? For your entire life. There is no end, you don’t reach a point where you are “Full” of virtue and you can stop seeking now. You must seek forever. Stop believing this myth today. Stop listening to "gurus" who flatter you and stroke your ego. YOU ARE NOT ENOUGH. YOU MUST SEEK OUTSIDE YOURSELF TO GROW. You cannot tell me that "you are enough" when suicide, depression, anxiety disorders, and all manner of other metrics that demonstrate that humanity is less happy than it’s ever been are skyrocketing. Did all these millions of people miss the memo that they are "enough"? I assert it is because these people see the hypocrisy of these mantras. What hypocrisy? Harsh truth coming: You know you are not enough. We all know it. Yet, we try to convince ourselves that we are to avoid doing the work it will require to fix it. But you cannot lie to yourself. Your soul, heart, mind and even your body can FEEL and SENSE the hypocrisy. If you believe that you are "enough" and yet you continue to feel depressed and sad, your subconscious asks a powerful question, "What is wrong with me then? If I am enough, why don't I feel like I'm enough?" Because you are not – You are telling yourself a lie and you know it. Life is a journey, a quest. We are sharks - we must swim or die. We must do or die. Life is not a passive "sport." You are not meant to ride the bench. You are meant to do. To make matters worse, many people say that it is cruel to tell someone they are not enough. This is vicious and cruel beyond words because it prevents the sufferer from receiving the only antidote to their problem - the truth. As a protector, it is my duty and my sacred calling to tell the truth. One of the core principles that classical warriors operate under is "to defend the paths of truth." You need to know that you are not enough, you must seek more outside yourself. Once you believe that this is reality (and it is), you can go about seeking the remedy. You can heal yourself. I give you permission to acknowledge that you are lacking, that you are not enough and that that is OK. Now go fix it. Go strive to become more virtuous, more confident, more actionable, and healthier. Go do it – your friends need you, the world needs you and perhaps most importantly, you need you.  I believe that right now, you are facing a tough battle in your personal life that few are aware of. I know it is difficult and I know that it may even feel like there is no point to it or that no good could possibly come from it. If this is you, I am writing this blog to you. I want you to know that there is a purpose to your suffering. There is a reason for everything. All of life’s events are so intricately intertwined that I believe you must trust in Providence to bring about good ends. I firmly believe that God does this. Let me tell you a story from my personal experience to illustrate: When I was 5 years old, my parents enrolled me in martial arts classes. I don't remember asking to be enrolled, but I do remember the classes. I remember being asked to do an axe kick one day (remember, I'm 5 years old). After 2 failed attempts, I looked at the instructor and told him I couldn't do it. He said "Try it again." I repeated that I could not. He then did something that you may not agree with. He said to me, "Then your class is over. Go sit outside and wait for the class to finish." I was totally embarrassed. At age 5, I don't think I could be very angry yet, but I was embarrassed. The other kids had to watch me leave the mat and go sit outside in the hallway. I remember crying on the steps but I do not remember what I was thinking. How dare this instructor make me sit out of class! Even at age 5 I remember feeling that my pride was hurt. I didn’t know it at the time, but God was testing my attitude. Would I allow my pride to make me quit or would I humble myself and resubmit to instruction and guidance? I cannot remember if my parents were attending and saw what happened or not. But I do remember my Dad telling me later, "I thought that was the end of martial arts for you. And since we were not particularly attached to it, we would have pulled you out if you didn't want to do it anymore." To this day, I am not sure why I went back. I had been embarrassed and humiliated in front of a full class - in front of my peers. The instructor was not a particularly warm and cuddly man either. So why did I go back? Like I said, I really don't know. All I know is, is that had I quit, I would never have met my other instructors. You see, I spent 1 year in that school and then my family moved. Once we got set up in the new house, we found another school closer to us. I am still training with the founder of that school, 21 years later. This Feb marks my 22nd consecutive year of martial training. I have gone on to do things that nobody else in history has ever done at such a young age. Before age 30, I have interviewed the greatest and finest protectors in the country. I have trained with and been exposed to methodologies that even elite military units do not often have access to. I say these things not to impress you but to impress upon you that there is probably a similar incident in your own life. I can take credit for none of the things I just listed. I can’t even tell you why as a 5 year old I didn’t quit, I just kept going. I don’t even remember making a conscious decision about it. I just kept training. This was a real turning point that had I decided otherwise, would have completely altered my life. I know you have faced similar incidents in your own life. Do you trust the process? Do you trust Providence that there is a purpose? To go back to my example again - if I had quit that day, I never would have gone to the other school. If I don't do that, I don't meet those instructors who to this day are mentors and teachers in my life. If I don't meet them, I don't get plugged in with another instructor who has given me access to the source of all things martial from the time I was 13 years old. Without them, I do not continue training and I do not become an instructor myself, without that, I never would have gone on to write a book (working on a 2nd), or save the lives of 2 unborn children. Let me explain: When I was 19, I had stepped away from a really toxic, high school girlfriend. I was sad, angry, bitter and not a fun person to be around. In the aftermath, I wanted to find something fun again so I reached out to a young girl I had met at the same party I met my ex. She was a piano player and teacher and I had played piano as a kid and wanted to get back to it. Being a college student, I had no money, but I remember a conversation I had with her at the party: she wanted to learn personal protection. Since we both had something the other wanted, we traded talents. In one of our classes, I taught her how to fall correctly so as to prevent injury. One fall in particular, the front break fall. We spent maybe 45 minutes on this skill in one session, 8 years ago. Fast forward to when my friend was pregnant with her first child. She was 8 months pregnant (this was 3 or so years ago) and it had been 2-3 years since I had last trained her. She tripped going up the stairs with her 8 month baby-bump pointing directly at the edge of the step. Instead of falling on the bump and potentially injuring or killing the baby, she did her front break fall, and saved the child. This happened again around 8 months with her second child. Another fall that she potentially saved the baby from by doing a front break fall. Why do I tell you this story? Because had I quit at age 5 after being embarrassed in class, my friend may never have been taught how to fall properly and her children could have ended up with permanent damage or even could have died. The string of events that led to that was so complicated, and any number of decisions could have prevented me from ever instructing my friend in how to fall. Somehow, we ended up at that point. I tell you this story to impress upon you that while you may be suffering now, you cannot see the final end. You do not know how your suffering today will save another person (or even yourself) from greater suffering tomorrow. I realize that my incident on the mat was just a minor twinge of embarrassment - it could have been way worse. But at 5 years old, I could have easily quit and my parents wouldn't have stopped me. I personally believe that Divine Providence didn't allow me to quit that day because I had a higher purpose to fulfill. Two little unborn boys who were nearly 20 years away from ever being born needed me to keep training. What future people in your life need you to keep fighting your battle? A successful man once said, "The only way you can truly fail is if you quit." Right now, I'm not talking about good quitting. For example, I had just quit on a bad relationship back when I was 19 and it was the right thing to do - sometimes quitting is good. But that isn't what I'm saying to you. What I am saying to you is that you should try to keep all things in your life in perspective. Let's go back to my example and really come full circle. If I don't date my ex, and end the relationship in such a way that motivates me to seek something from my childhood (piano playing) to feel good again, I may never have called my friend to do lessons. Obviously, if I had never called her and started a relationship with her, she may never have learned the vital skill that potentially saved her two children. To make your mind really explode - I don't know what purpose her two sons have to accomplish in this world. Perhaps one of them is necessary to save someone else's life who is unborn as I write this blog? I am content not knowing. I am content living like a protector so that others may see more of life. In your life, keep things in perspective. Who is counting on you now? What future people will benefit from your struggles now? You don't know and that's damn exciting. Even if you never live to see the fruits of your suffering, keep in mind that someone may very well reap the benefits and owe their success and well-being to you. This is why a warrior persists in fighting the good fight. This is why to live the life of a protector is the most rewarding life there is to live. The gravity of my participation in my friend's children's lives is hard to fathom and it is an immense feeling of gratitude, unworthiness and humility that fills my soul when I contemplate it. I want that feeling for you. Persist in your struggle my fellow warrior. You never know who is counting on you. Live in the battleground, Alexander Lanshe Sensei Fall down 7 times, stand up 8 - Japanese Proverb |
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Alexander LansheNational Speaker, author, blogger, and life-long student of warrior arts and science. Archives
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