Peaceful Warrior

I usually don't like to use the term warrior, or any other word that makes me think of war or violence, to describe my relationship with chronic illness.  I just don't think it's a productive use of my energy to think of battling myself or anything else.  Then I watched the movie The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, which is based on a true story starring Nick Nolte, Scott Mechlowicz, and Amy Smart.  And I started to re-think the word warrior.

From the book:

Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives by Dan Millman

Warriors, warriors we call ourselves.
We fight for splendid virtue, for high endeavor, for sublime wisdom,
therefore we call ourselves warriors.
~Aunguttara Nikaya


From the interview with Dan Millman, "Peaceful Warrior - From Book to Screen" page 209, at the end of the Peaceful Warrior book:

Q: Why is the book called Peaceful Warrior? It's about a gymnast, not a soldier or martial artist. What does it mean to be a Peaceful Warrior?

A: Socrates once told me "I call myself a warrior - a peaceful warrior - because the real battles we face are inside us." This is also my experience. The way I teach, expressed through my books and now the film, is that we must learn to live with both courage and love, because it takes courage to live and to love in this world.


On these terms I can call myself a Peaceful Warrior in my inner battle against fibromyalgia, degenerative disc disease, etc.


Comments

  1. AvivaNovember 7, 2010 at 1:12 AM

    Beautiful, Sherril! Thanks for sharing that with us! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. SherrilNovember 7, 2010 at 6:34 PM

    Thank YOU, Aviva, and you're very welcome!

    ReplyDelete

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