We Are All Warriors | The Warrior Ethos, By Steven Pressfield | Part 1

in #blog5 years ago

“The Spartans do not ask how many are the enemy but where are they.” - Plutarch

We are all warriors. We are all fighting in one way or another. A common misconception is that fighting is always violent and typically a negative.

In reality, we all have inner and outer demons that we must conquer. Those inner demons are the ones that I’m particularly focused on in my own life.

Many people also cling to societal notions of “success” — They are in a constant state of wanting more more more.

They want a nicer car. A bigger house. A greener lawn. They want to one up the guy or gal next to them. Society likes to teach us to strive for more “stuff” rather than more inner strength and inner virtue.

We Are All Warriors | Fighting the Good Fight

The world today looks almost nothing like it did 100 years ago, let alone 1000+ years ago. It’s unrecognizable in many ways. Despite the many disparities, there are still many fundamental truths to the way that we live, think, act and cooperate.

We live in a world that is so cushioned from reality. When we’re hungry, we walk (or even drive) down the street to the supermarket and fill a basket with food from thousands of potential options.

When we need to know something, we can simply google it.

If we need to go somewhere we’ve never been before, we can find it on our mobile GPS app on our smartphone. If we’re unsure of the safety or any other factor of this location, we can google it, search it on yelp, etc. and find people who have already been there and see what advice they have to give.

We can even reach out on social media to our hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of followers (or even tap into hashtag communities) and tap people for their knowledge on something.

To put it simply, life is easier today than it was yesterday. There is less adversity. There is less struggle. There is less of a need to fight for your own survival on a daily basis.

In my opinion, this lack of need to fight for basic survival leaves us with a deep hole inside. We crave the fight, yet we have little to struggle for.

This is where our inner demons come into play. The world is far from perfect and many parts of the world are still struggling to solve their basic survival needs like clean, drinkable water, access to proper nutrition, access to technology and medicine, etc etc., but if you’re reading this post, it is likely that that is not the nature of your situation.

Thus, our inner demons become the fight that is most relevant. How do we conquer our fears? How do we find our identity in this strange world? What is the meaning of life on both a universal and individual level?

These questions, and many others, can be solved by The Warrior Ethos. Creating, cultivating and living by a code of honor that we craft around our own lives can give us a deep satisfaction and can allow us to face challenges with a renewed sense of life and purpose.

“Where did the Warrior Ethos come from? Why would anyone choose this hard, dangerous life? What could be the philosophy behind such a choice?” -- Steven Pressfield, The Warrior Ethos

Struggle is a part of life. It is a part of the journey. Without struggle, we find ourselves lost in the world. We feel a lack of purpose and a lack of destiny.

No Room For Cowards

“The most famous Spartan mother story is also the shortest:

A Spartan mother handed her son his shield as he prepared to march off to battle. She said, “Come back with this or on it.”

-- Steven Pressfield, The Warrior Ethos

This famous Spartan story is one of my favorites. Spartan warriors who died honorably on the battlefield were traditionally carried home on their shields.

Those who abandoned the fight were a complete disgrace to the Spartan society.

Coming back with your shield means that you fought honorably with your Spartan brothers and you survived and succeeded in your mission and ultimate duty as a warrior.

Coming back on your shield means that you fought honorably with your Spartan brothers and you died while fulfilling your mission and ultimate duty as a warrior.

Because of the ease of our current lifestyle, it can be easy to run away from every fight and struggle.

In fact, society teaches us to actually run away from adversity. Society wants us to get a 9-5 job, buy a house, have a family, go to the supermarket and always desire more more more. That’s how a capitalistic society functions — by construing this massive web of desires and stories.

Running from the fight is dishonorable. We must remind ourselves that adversity is one of the cornerstones to a successful and happy life.

I started this post by talking about fighting your own inner demons. Many people shy away from their inner demons. They push them deep down and pretend like they aren’t there.

You and people you know have all done this in the past. I think the easiest way to identify an inner demon that you’ve been ignoring is to think of a positive habit that you’ve attempted and failed to start and consistently keep on a daily basis.

For many people, such a habit may be reading daily, writing daily, exercising daily, eating clean and wholesome foods, etc. etc. The list is long and only you know which is most relevant to you.


Today’s QOTD is going to be a challenge rather than a question:

Identify 1 habit that you have been putting off - be it reading, writing, exercising, whatever - identify that habit and then don’t run away from it. Run towards the adversity and the struggle of putting it into place today. Fight the demon head on as a Spartan would go to battle knowing that they must either return with their shield or on it.

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I'm from a country that's been specially atacked by its own inners and some big outer demons. Every single person have to decide face their own demons or just run away, they think that running from here will be enough, but most important demons, inner demons, travel with you. Thanks for share this whit us. It was like a breath of courage for me.

Absolutely, everyone comes to a variety of crossroads when it comes to demons, both internal and external.

Internal demons are harder to see, but nonetheless remain a part of you wherever you go.

External demons are easier to see but can be more unpredictable and scary.

Fighting internal demons will require to to become a master of yourself.

Fighting external demons will require that you become a master of cooperation with your peers.

Thanks for reading!

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I enjoyed reading your post. It's an excellent post in my opinion. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. And I'm spreading it. Have a fantastic Friday! Peace.

Thank you! Have a great weekend!

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My pleasure. have a beautiful weekend too. 🙂👌

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You're right about it not just been in battle against a physical enemy, but also that battle within us
As writers we don't sell every piece of work, but we write the next one,
and then the next
Not many of my posts about the creative's struggles have been noticed, but i refuse to stop writing them because I've got something important to say
I won't be so brazen as to post a link to it but one of my posts today could have nearly been lifted from yours
I salute your words because we're of a like mindset
we could be brothers from different mothers in that respect.
I'd say to people: focus on your goal, on why you want it; find a piece of music that means something to you, or speaks to you about your goal; and go for it.
I hope you feel this adds to what you're saying rather than distracting people, but I posted it earlier today, and the more people that can benefit from the story of Stallone's triumph over his handicaps and setbacks the better

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