There have been multiple gifts during the pandemic. A warrior’s mindset will help you see the gifts in the middle of a tragedy.
The entire world is being called to step up and practice this right now. And the question is: Will you give in to the stress, or will you persevere?
In the martial arts, we learn to persevere by cultivating an indomitable spirit. That spirit and warrior’s mindset is serving me right now, in the midst of these uncertain times. But uncertain isn’t quite the word, is it?
The writer\’s brain in me has been reaching for the right word for what this feeling is. It feels like that jail scene in the movies where the guy reaches his arm out of the cell for the key that sits just outside his reach. You can see the sweat on his brow, he’s trying so desperately to set himself free. And he never does.
The reason I can’t find the word that fits is because it’s a feeling; a feeling most of us haven’t been challenged within our lifetime. We’re literally living through something we don’t have the language to fully express yet. We’re working our way there by trying to explain, analyze, and problem-solve our way through.
And that never works. Because it’s only when we feel our way through that the magic starts to happen. One of the marks of a warrior is that kind of awareness, and mindset.
After my business was shut down in the blink of an eye, and one announcement from our governor, I felt the panic in my chest and gut. What if I can’t pay my mortgage? What if one of the kids gets sick? I started to make all kinds of shit up about that chest tightness I was feeling.
A warrior learns to feel his/her way through to an answer, not try to think her way through. Those answers come from a deeper knowing, the connection we have with source energy. If you’re a practiced healer, you’re nodding. You know what this is.
The answer right now, in the middle of this bigger crisis, is no different than it has always been; to feel our way to the solutions. The pain, stress, and uncertainty are gifts. It’s our choice to see them that way. With awareness, we get to choose.
A warrior’s mindset allows him or her to live, in any situation, with clarity, confidence, and ease.
It doesn’t matter what they’re faced with, they’re able to feel into the situation without making it mean anything extra. Reality does not dictate how they feel.
And man, it takes a warrior to move through the world that way right now, huh? The death, suffering, loss, and grief our country and world has endured in these short months are enough to challenge the masters. And that might be the biggest gift of all.
When we test for our black belts in Tae Kwon Do it is a long, physically, and mentally challenging event. We’re meant to know what we’re made of by the end of it. If we haven’t been knocked down a few times in that test, it doesn’t fully serve us. If it were easy it wouldn’t mean anything.
The pain, stress, and uncertainty right now beg the same question. What are you made of? Can you still practice the indomitable spirit and mindset of a warrior despite your reality? Or will you let what you’re making the feelings mean dictate your reaction?
A warrior responds from a place of connected awareness. They choose how they feel no matter what’s happening around them.
We can do this too. We can master this skill right now. And we need it now more than ever before. This kind of awareness is not just for warriors. It’s for anyone who wants to live a happier, more peaceful life. It’s for anyone wishing to thrive despite the obvious circumstances.
Here are 5 Steps to Adopting a Warrior’s Mindset
- Practice noticing what you’re feeling and thinking
- Do not add any meaning to what you’re feeling and thinking
- Choose to respond to what you need to respond to from a place of detached awareness
- When you notice yourself reacting or triggered, pause, breathe, and notice
- With awareness choose healthier, more aligned thoughts, beliefs, or actions
There are several more tools you can use to enhance the practice of the five steps above, including journaling, meditation, breathwork, and tapping, to name a few. You may require more self-care and healing right now than usual. Recognize the need for reinforcements right now and give them to yourself. Recognize and respond to the extraordinary times with extraordinarily badass tools and measures.
And…ask for help. Many of us need extra help right now. No matter how strong we are, or how long we’ve practiced, the circumstances have exhausted us, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and financially. The modern-day warrior knows when to ask for help, is not ashamed to ask, and allows herself to receive, so that she can go on serving.
We do this together.
My expert holistic healer friends and I put together something special for those of you searching for new ways to care for yourself right now. Find that book with 25 tools in it HERE.
Who knows, the pain, stress, or uncertainty you\’ve experienced might just be the inspiration you needed to answer this question: What if there’s something you haven’t learned yet that could change everything?
– Laura
Laura Di Franco, MPT is an intuitive writing strategist, holistic physical therapist, published author, poet and third-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do with over two decades of experience in healing. She teaches transformational tools and powerful strategy for nourishing and inspiring your fiercely alive whole self. Learn more about Laura on her website.
