The Warrior Stance
How should we approach our wellbeing?
What stance should we take? Primarily, I think we have two options:
One
One is to not engage with the issue, which is to admit both defeat and to
admit to accepting a wider and long-term negativity in our lives. That
might seem a stark reduction, but when you strip it down, I think that is
the outcome of not being bothered about our wellbeing. It becomes a
wellbeing nihilism that somehow reasons out that “I won't mind being
Ill” and so on…
Two
The other stance is what has been called “The Warrior Stance”; which is
to take a confrontational and stoic approach towards our own wellbeing. To
choose to fight to take care of ourselves.
There might be other approaches but, in my opinion, the only choice that
comes out of rationally reasoning about my own health and wellbeing and
options is to take the Warrior Stance.
What is The Warrior Stance?
Essentially it is two modes of action aimed at optimising our being and
wellbeing.
The first mode, the smarts, is about the understanding and acceptance of
these five principles:
1 Time is short and precious.
2 Good experiences are precious.
3 We cannot directly change much about the world.
4 We can directly change much about ourselves and our experiences.
5 It is unskillful to waste the precious.
In a sense this mode is about convincing yourself that you should learn the
skills and smarts to fight for your wellbeing (If this doesn't convince you
consider the different family, social and economic outcomes of you looking
after your wellbeing, or, not looking after your wellbeing).
We should strive to improve our wellbeing. Is this not a no-brainer?
I also think it is a no-brainer that we should also try to enjoy it :)
This is the attitude of The Warrior Stance to fight and enjoy the fight.
Steaming kale will never seem the same again :p
The second mode of The Warrior Stance to wellbeing is about the
understanding and practice of skills aimed at optimising our health,
energy, mentality, outcomes, and so on. The things that make us honestly
answer "Yes!" to the question, "Are you well?”.
These skills do not just stand in isolation, rather they are integrated and
informed together. They should also be practiced efficiently: Not Wasting
Time is itself a key skill.
The way I try to decide which areas to consider as the next thing I want to
understand and, maybe practice, is to try to assess things in terms of
their:
Cost (time/money/focus)
Risk (We should be prudent with risk, I think. Not reckless)
Benefit (potential and actual and enjoyment)
Somethings for me will work out different to some things for you. I will
newsletter on this crucial point later.
The Warrior Stance is, in part about navigating this for yourself, finding
out what is good practice for you.
Perhaps luckily, there are some things that seem to be absolutely
no-brainers for almost everyone on the planet. Things like:
Getting Enough Sleep
Getting Enough Sunlight
Not Eating Always
Increasing Heart Rate
Being Well Hydrated
TWS Mindset
Linking together all of the wellbeing practices needs to be a foundation of
mental fortitude. East and west, old and new, Fortitude is considered one
of the great virtues. Its practice is not always easy, as we know, but the
benefits are huge and deep.
We all can be weak willed, we all know how souring this can be.
In terms of optimising wellbeing, weak will will be one of our biggest
adversaries. If you are considering embracing TWS towards your wellbeing
then I really urge that you face to yourself and acknowledge your weakness
of will and, kinda, let it know that you are going to strive to eliminate
it.
I should say, absolutely, it is important that the stark, but relatively
optimistic, reality of the wellbeing war ahead of you needs to be tempered
with light heartedness about the fight.
You need to be able to say “Fuck it” and let it go and embrace cake and
crips and all of that.
Also, you need to remind yourself that, although your wellbeing is really,
really important to you, so are your friends and family . I suggest we
don't let our inner fun wellbeing battles become the annoyances of others.
Finally, it is not skilful warrior training to fret about wellbeing issues.
Be a warrior not a worrier :\
Thanks for reading!
The 'warrior mindset' has been very successful for many people over the years and is a good choice for many. I prefer a different metaphor, one of the gardener. I am interested in cultivating and nurturing wellbeing - especially as I get older, it's less tiring than being a warrior!
Although perhaps one can be both!
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