The Dual Nature of a Warrior

The ancient Spartans had a tradition, where before they step off to battle, they would take their "ticket" which was nothing more than a small tab of wood with their name inscribed on each end, and they would break it in half, taking half with them into battle and leaving the other half behind in the hands of a designated ticket keeper.  When the battle was over and the combatants returned to camp, the keeper would call off names one by one, and each man would then go claim his half of the broken ticket.  The unclaimed tickets are of those that fell in battle.

The dividing of the ticket also symbolizes the dividing of one's self and leaving behind that half of you, the better half, that carries every inclination towards love, mercy, and compassion; that side that delights in his children and lifts his voice in song.  The warrior then takes with him the side of him that knows only his baser instincts, only combat, survival, and slaughter, the side of him that looks across the battlefield and sees only soldiers, without a name an without a face.  As soon as faces appear recognizeable across the way, the soldier becomes a man, and mercy and compassion enter the picture.  It is not until the battle is over and the ticket is once again joined together where the warrior experiences that sacremental moment when he is once again whole.

There exists an interesting dynamic among the villain, the hero, and the damsel in distress.  In the typical scenario, the damsel is captured by the villain, then the villain is defeated by the hero, and the damsel is rescued.  So the villain overcomes the damsel, the hero overcomes the villain, yet it is the damsel that weakens the knees of the hero.  Evil hates love, so it strives to overcome it, and in this dynamic, evil succeeds in doing so.  The hero's righteous anger is what overcomes evil, and love quells the righteous anger.  This is why love, and all other feelings derived from love like mercy and compassion, have no place on the field of battle.  Love calms the righteous anger that burns in the heart of every warrior, which allows evil to flourish, and in turn, love is extinguished.

The Paradox of Fear

To many, "fear" is a dirty four letter word.  It is a stumbling block on the way to overcoming your obstacles, and in some cases, fear cripples.  Fear can also be your best friend if you handle it correctly.  Sylvester Stallone compares it to a fire in Rocky 5.  If you control it, it will make you hot.  If you let it control you, it will consume you and everything else around you.

Judgement, knowledge, and courage, three of fourteen traits that make a good leader.  These three traits have one thing in common: they are all rooted in fear, more specifically, fear of undesired consequence.  Fear and knowledge go hand in hand because in this case, knowledge is simply our awareness of the possibility of the undesired consequences which leads us to try and make the right decisions to avoid that consequence.  This is where sound judgement comes into play.  People call courage the antithesis of fear, and say that courage is the overcoming of fear, but that isn't exactly true.

Fear is overcome by fear itself.  Fear of our adversary is overcome by fear of defeat.  Fear of rejection is overcome by our fear of dying alone.  Fear of adversity is overcome by the fear of failure.  In the case of the Spartans at the battle of Thermopylae, the fear of death was overcome by a fear of dishonor and the fear of the death of their families and the destruction of their beloved city.

Franklin Roosevelt once said that we have nothing to fear but fear itself.  I say fear is nothing to be afraid of.  Fear is something to be embraced.  It curbs you from recklessness, and can drive you to greatness.  There is nothing wrong with being afraid; there is, however, in allowing it to consume you.