Our last +1 was about a modern-day warrior, Georges St-Pierre.
Let’s talk about old-school philosophical warriors for a moment.
In his great book about the philosophical roots of modern cognitive behavioral therapy, Donald Robertson tells us that the ancient philosophers weren’t interested in merely understanding how to live optimally, they were committed to actually LIVING optimally.
(In fact, he tells us that those ancient philosophers wouldn’t even recognize the modern philosopher lost in ideas in the comforts of their ivory towers.)
The old-school philosophers knew it was really hard to live in integrity with our highest ideals. They told us we needed to be WARRIORS of the mind, not mere librarians of the mind.
Important point: All of these +1s aren’t ideas to be catalogued in the libraries of our minds. These are ideas to be LIVED in the moment-to-moment experiences that determine our destiny.
Today’s +1 work: What’s one Idea you’ve merely catalogued in your mind that you need to take into the arena of your life?
Let’s do that.
P.S. The metaphor of the warrior winning the battle between his higher and lower selves is present throughout the ancient traditions.
Socrates put it this way: “I desire only to know the truth, and to live as well as I can… And, to the utmost of my power, I exhort all other men to do the same… I exhort you also to take part in the great combat, which is the combat of life, and greater than every other earthly conflict.”
Buddha tells us: “One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand men on the battlefield.”
And Rumi offers: “The lion who breaks the enemy’s ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself.”
And even Gandhi’s Handbook, The Bhagavad Gita, was set on a battlefield and features the greatest warrior of that era receiving counsel from a Divine charioteer—encouraging him to live heroically in the midst of doubt and fear.
Let’s be heroic warriors.
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