There's a Warrior In All of Us
You rarely hear the word 'warrior' described in today's society. However, I believe that each one of us has to get in touch with the warrior that resides in each of us if we want to survive, even in today's society, and maybe even more so than back in the 'warrior' days.
Just before I got married, and even after I got married, I had so many people tell me 'You just wait. Once you're married, you will get fat, start giving a piece of yourself up. Blah blah blah.' I don't know if it was the industry I worked in back then (computers), but I was a little surprised at all the negative comments that came from those married people I worked with, when I thought this was supposed to be one of the most joyous times in my life. So having married someone who was a bit of a warrior like myself, we fought all the beliefs that these married, negative and maybe even somewhat sarcastic people brought forth to us. We joined gyms, exercised our butts off and made sure that we were always doing recreational activities like skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, boating, water skiing/tubing, hiking, biking, roller blading, and just being active. And that also motivated us to watch our weight by eating healthy 90% of the time. We were NOT going to let a few Debbie downers spiral us into that married couple description they bestowed on us.
And then came kids. Oh wait. Before kids. Trying to get pregnant three years later. If it wasn't for the warrior I got in touch with inside of me, I may not have come out so strong and with the three little miracles that happened. And yes, when the kids came along, we also stood on our solid warrior ground, and said NO to giving up showers, giving up a life as a couple, giving up sleep (that part was really challenging!), settling for a minivan (nothing wrong with that, moms and dads out there - my rebellious warrior side was just not having it even though I knew it was the most practical vehicle for a mom of 3 kids, especially for easy drop-offs and pick-ups once they became school age), giving up vacations without kids (ok, this one was really tough too, but we managed 2 real vacations and a handful of weekend getaways in the 15 years we've had children in our lives). If it wasn't for the inner warrior in us, we would not have fought all the 'not so positive' parts of our parental and married lives and would have just settled for this is the way it's supposed to be.
Now fast forward many years of this inner warrior discovery within ourselves, and now we have 5 warriors in the family. Let me be the first to tell you that having 5 warriors in the family can mean war, if not done just right. Five warriors means having 5 strong opinions and 5 leaders and no followers. How do you make that work you say? With much coaching, much learning, much self discovery, much awareness and observation, and teaching a growth mindset for all. It's not always peace in the house, but then again, we are not robots either. There are feelings to be hurt, hormonal changes amongst all of us right now, and communication mishaps. But with all of that, there is also much love, much growth and many passionate moments. We grow together. We live and learn. We shift our perspectives. Because that's what a true warrior does, in today's world.