I truly don’t know why am willing to be the man in the ring… I never have ever thought so highly of myself to think that I realistically have a shot at making it or surviving the encounter. Ironically I don’t actually put myself out there for that. I continually search my soul to try and understand if the bold and aggressive things I do come from a place of arrogance because if there’s one thing I fear it’s becoming arrogant. Inaccurate confidence signals the end of things…

Sometimes I wonder if my willingness to go out into chaos is because maybe I’m not that smart…? The reality simply is that I’ve only made it this far because my heavenly father has always been with me. It’s easier to sit back and let someone else be the man in the ring… Or is it?
When I think more deeply about it I simply realize that for men like me, there’s always a choice but not really. If I wasn’t the man in the ring I would die sitting on the sidelines. My heart would melt inside of my chest at the realization that I chose safety over war to bring out the potential God‘s given me. To men like myself the biggest tragedy in this life is dying a coward‘s death before mastering yourself and things in your environment in order to serve your God and your tribe at the highest levels you’re capable of. For us as warriors there truly is no other way… we’ve all seen the statistics of suicide within the warrior communities.

I’d rather die in the ring getting after it to serve and contribute rather than wither away on the sidelines not doing my part. I think we should all be ashamed to die before making a worthwhile contribution as a memorial for the opportunity of this life… A warrior without a war loses purpose and that is the road to the end. Fight the righteous war against weaker versions of yourself and develop yourself to contribute to those you love on a daily basis. This is what the game truly is all about for us now. Be the man in the ring, make a contribution and die with honor.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Protector by nature and by trade
Byron