I recently came across a book entitled “Warrior of the Light”, written by Paulo Coelho… It is a slim volume of short stories which were first published in a weekly column of a Brazilian newspaper, between 1993 and 1996.
The preface on the cover was what first drew my attention. It simply read, “Short stories on accepting failure, embracing life, and rising to your destiny”…
“The Warrior” referred to in this book, lives in all of us… It refers to a way of life we all can lead, a path we can all follow… This is summed up perfectly on the back cover :
“Every short passage invites us to live out our dreams, to embrace the uncertainty of life, and to rise to our own unique destiny… It helps bring out the Warrior of the Light within each of us… Shows us how to embark upon the way of the Warrior, the one who appreciates the miracle of being alive, the one who accepts failure, and the one whose quest leads him to become the person he wants to be…”
So many passages from this book have struck a chord within me… I can relate them to my own journey, the experiences I have had, and the manner in which I have gone about trying to make sense of the world around me… Something I now know would take many lifetimes to achieve…!!
A paragraph that in part aptly describes me reads as follows:
“The Warrior knows that he is free to choose his desires, and he makes these decisions with courage, detachment, and sometimes, with just a touch of madness…”
Many of my friends will readily agree with that last part…!! Riding the Big Fella around the world, and especially down to Ushuaia, has required “just a touch of madness” …!!
Another day, another victory...!! Sometimes celebrated with nothing more than a bottle of water...!!
The afternoon on which I returned from Fin del Mundo, I lay reading this book while Carl was out trying to find his lost passport and wallet…
I came across a passage that had me nodding to myself in full agreement…
“When he wins a battle, the Warrior celebrates…
This victory has cost him many anxious moments, nights racked with doubts, endless days of waiting. Since ancient times, celebrating a triumph has been part of the ritual of life. Celebration is a rite of passage.
His companions see the Warrior’s joy and think, “Why is he doing this ? He might be disappointed in his next battle !”
But the Warrior knows why he is celebrating. He is savoring the best gift that victory can bring : confidence.
He celebrates today’s victory in order to gain more strength for tomorrow’s battle.”
I would certainly be needing a bit of that “strength” over the next few days, when I set out to do battle again, with the winds that scour Southern Patagonia…
When Carl got back, I sat him down and shared out the last of the bottle of red wine I had carried from Punta Arenas…
In that small hotel room in Ushuaia, we quietly celebrated our recent victories… Reminding each other of what we had done to get to where we were…
Despite the heavy rain that fell on Ushuaia that night, which did not bode well for my plans for an early departure the following morning, I went to sleep with a wide smile on my face…
For a moment I had glimpsed what it meant to be a “Warrior of the Light”…
©GBWT 2012
“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle.”
The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.
Continue to have fun!!!