Monthly Archives: June 2012

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The 1-in-100 Warrior Award: On The Brighter Side

“Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and (s)he will bring the others back.” ~Heraclitus

What exactly a warrior is. Someone who wears a suit of armor and swings a sword around? A participant in a war? Nothing more than a soldier?

If these are the thoughts that spring to mind, think deeper.

A warrior is more than weapons and armor. It is a way of life. It is the belief that the greatest purpose in life is service to others. It is grace amid frustration, peace amid turmoil, and strength amid weakness and misery. We most often use this word to describe the brave men and women who risk their lives in the military and law enforcement to ensure our freedom and safety, but warriors are actually all around us. They’re in factories. They’re in offices. They’re in schools. They’re in hospitals, both as doctors and nurses, and as patients.

Courage. Honesty. Fearlessness. Grace. Peace. Service to others. No complaints. Nothing thought of as a blessing or a curse; everything simply accepted as another challenge to be conquered.

They’re not perfect, and don’t try to be, because they know such aspirations are futile. But they do the absolute best they can with what they’ve been given. Warriors no longer have potential. They are potent! They understand that knowledge is knowing, but wisdom is doing. And they are a very rare breed: as Heraclitus once said, only one out of every one hundred is a true warrior. This award is named in honor of those words and that truth. The symbol of the sword is used to represent their courage and strength, and the symbol of the feather quill pen represents their grace, beauty and creativity.

It’s my honor to give the latest 1-in-100 Warrior award to Sara Wales of On The Brighter Side. Sara has been a supporter of Warrior Poet Wisdom since the beginning, and has been a constant source of inspiration, motivation and support. And she provides the same inspiration, motivation and support to countless other creative people. She goes the extra mile so often that she should buy stock in Nike! :) And she’s a wonderful example of what can happen when you make selflessness and effort a common, everyday habit. It becomes second nature to do the right thing, to be a beautiful, hopeful and loving person. Thank you Sara, you’re 1-in-100 and we are so lucky to have you:

http://onthebrighterside.net/

 

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Ugly

“Beauty is variable, ugliness is constant.” ~Douglas Horton

Ugly

I know someone who’s quite ugly
I speak not of their face
They have a blemish that make-up
And lipstick can’t erase

Their eyes are quite alluring and
Their cheeks have pinkish hue
But despite their pretty face
They’re ugly through and through

They think only about themselves
And about their own views
They’d never be caught dead walking
A mile in your shoes

They think that they are always right
And never are at fault
They think because they’re pretty that
Their words do not insult

They have entitlement issues
They think the world does owe
Because of good genetics that
They’re so eager to show

One day life will slap the wrinkles
Right into their faces
And they won’t have their good looks to
Get into our good graces

Time will pull down on their skin
And make their eyes look tired
All the make-up in the world
Won’t make them more desired

And then they’ll have to face the truth
Which will cause them to pout:
They won’t have courage, grace and love
To make true beauty sprout

Youthful skin won’t hide their scowl
Or their lack of peace
Their true selves will be magnified
With every facial crease

And that’s when ugly people have
A slice of humble pie
When skin-deep beauty starts to be
In very short supply

When they cannot do anything
To stop what nature takes
When their vision starts to go
And when their body aches

They start to realize that they’re
Not perfect after all
Maybe they contributed
To every single brawl

And maybe then they’ll be able
To say “I’m sorry too”
“Now I see that the whole blame
Did not lay just on you”

It takes two people to argue
And to engage in war
Fights happen when one puts down
Their foot and says, “No more!”

To the beautiful uglies
Who are so conceited
Keep in mind what is in store
For your beauty ahead

Remember that your flesh and bone
Lasts only a few years
Everything that’s physical
One day just disappears

True beauty’s in virtues like
Benevolence and grace
And doesn’t have the slightest thing
To do with your cute face

                                ~Miro

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Honor Code

Honor Code

Honor is a tough concept
To adhere to a code
That no one can enforce, for many
Folks it does forebode

To be accountable to self
To one’s own set of rules
One that you form on your own
Not one that’s taught in schools

To think a little deeper and
Decide what’s right and wrong
Only those self-disciplined
Focused, patient and strong

Have a chance to write that code
And stick to it each day
Only Warriors do not
Their honor code betray

                                       ~Miro

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Hero

Hero

Heroes are what children need
As they begin to grow
Someone who values morals
And hard work won’t forgo

When I was a little boy
I knew a hero who
Embodied all the traits that I
Would employ when I grew

This hero worked his hardest to
Provide for all his kin
He put the needs of family
Before his own therein

He didn’t go out partying
And didn’t socialize
Every weekend, ‘cause to him
His family was the prize

Many times the places where
He worked would just close down
He never got depressed or drank
To make his sorrows drown

Tomorrow was a new day so
This hero hit the street
Never feeling anxious or
Dramatic or downbeat

He’d always find a new job ‘cause
The bosses plainly saw
A trait he had that somehow would
Employers always draw

His English wasn’t all that good
But his eyes did reveal
Fluently that this hero
Did his job with much zeal

He didn’t moan and whine and cry
When the work day began
He always gave his best and always
Acted like a man

He cared about the things that mattered
God, his kids, his wife
And didn’t give a crap about
The petty things in life

Like competition that so many
Wasted money on
While others were out making bets
This hero mowed his lawn

While others spent their dough on latest
Fashions, travel, cars
And blew all of their money at
The race tracks and the bars

This hero put in overtime
So that his house was paid
‘Cause he never believed in
Depending on bank’s aid

He never owned a credit card
Because it made no sense
To buy with money that you didn’t
Have in present tense

This hero may not have been a
Philosopher or scholar
But wisdom can also come from
Those who wear a blue collar

From him I learned integrity
From him I learned respect
I learned to stand up as a man
And as a man, protect

This hero taught me to say “No,
That doesn’t work for me”
He taught me sometimes you have to
Speak up and disagree

When someone doesn’t try their best
When someone drags their ass
When someone shows great disrespect
When someone shows no class

When someone doesn’t care as much
As you push yourself to
When someone takes for granted what
In life you can pursue

A child needs a hero as
It grows to an adult
Take it serious, don’t be
An aloof insult

To the concept of mentor
Teacher, trainer, guide
Be a hero so your kids
Remember you with pride

                                for Dad

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The Doubter

The Doubter

There was a man named Tom who doubted
Everything on Earth
He doubted authenticity
And quality and worth

If someone said something, ole’ Tom
Would doubt the speaker by
Asking, “How would you know?”
Doubting Tom would then imply

That the speaker had not lived it
Regardless if they had
The truth was always hidden from
Doubting Tom pretty bad

He couldn’t understand and couldn’t
Infer someone’s point
Because ole’ Doubting Tom would always
Get bent out of joint

Whenever it seemed that someone
Knew something he did not
“I doubt it” Doubting Tom would say
‘Cause he could not allot

That someone could have learned something
That he had not learned yet
That someone could infer something
That ole’ Tom didn’t get

That someone else was capable
Of things Tom couldn’t do
Doubting Tom’s big ego threw
His perception askew

If he had not seen it then it
Was not likely to be
It had to be proven to Tom
Before he would agree

And sometimes even when he saw
Beyond shadow of doubt
He was so used to disagreeing
Doubting Tom would spout:

“I doubt it!” even though deep down
He knew that it was true
Anything to not concede
To someone else’s view

                               ~Miro

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“Okay”

“Okay”

There was a simple sheep named Speck
Who was held firmly into check
By doctors, teachers, management
“Okay” Speck said wherever he went

He was told by the doctors that
He had something that made him fat
Some other experts said he had
A condition that made him sad

The teachers told him he did lack
The thing which provided the knack
Of learning and applying self
It sort of tied back to his health

The management said that they knew
Exactly what he could not do
“Okay” Speck said repeatedly
“Okay, okay” he would agree

‘Till one day he looked off to side
While doctor spoke and did misguide
And there, far off, a Warrior
And he did not seem to concur

He shook his head and said “Enough
You’ve listened to them huff and puff
It’s time that you stood on your own
And realize that you’re not prone

To every single thing they warn
It’s time that you did sternly scorn
The time has passed for just ‘Okay’
It’s time now that you said ‘NO WAY’”

Ole’ Speck the Sheep was taken back
He felt he was under attack
But Warrior gave a firm nod
And slowly, calmly, growled “Fraud”

He took a step towards all those
Who told ole’ Speck that all his woes
Were caused by things beyond control
He said “We always have control

But you prescribe the easy path
And try to protect from the wrath
Of discomfort, it’s not okay
You cannot save them from the fray”

And as he turned to walk away
To Speck he had one thing to say:
“When someone tells you that you can’t
It’s not okay, you should not grant

You should accept it’s up to you
Exactly how much you can do
It’s you that decides your bounds so
Get off your ass and off you go”

Ole’ Speck the Sheep stood and thought long
About the Warrior’s stern song
“It’s not okay” he softly said
The words did echo in his head

“It’s not okay” he said with gall
“It’s NOT okay” he told them all
“IT’S NOT OKAY” he told skeptics
“IT’S NOT OKAY!” and had conflicts

There were those who did call him wrong
Who doubted just how tough and strong
Ole’ Speck the Sheep actually was
But Speck said, “I don’t give a fuzz!”

And from that moment on Speck saw
That his opinion was the law
That only he knew just how far
That he could push and raise the bar

And all of them looked on surprised
And said “I hadn’t realized
How much that little sheep could do”
And that’s because only Speck knew

                                                   ~Miro

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The Acuity War

The Acuity War

Make no mistake, there is a war
That rages every day
But one side is oblivious
That they fire away

The two combatants of this war
Are those who see real close
Those with high acuity
Who think deeper, engross

And those who miss the point
Who want things easy, lazy, fast
Who gloss over with no focus
Their obtuseness is vast

They lob their missiles by not caring
Not remembering
With shrugs and “Whatevers” they toss
Their grenades and bombs fling

The numbers are mismatched, the side
That thinks a little deeper
Is outnumbered and has a
Hill that’s quite a bit steeper

While all those who don’t give a shit
Swarm like an endless storm
Their lack of effort has become
The sad, pathetic norm

I give words of encouragement
To those on the small side
For those who have acuity
Don’t you dare run and hide

Don’t give in to laziness
To their lack of detail
Do not lower your standards
Don’t let them make you fail

Work your ass off, open fire
With passion, excellence
You’ll know it’s working when you start
To see them getting tense

The people who do not try hard
Don’t want you to succeed
Their lazy ways will only serve
To disrupt and impede

Wage the war and rest assured
That though we number few
A Warrior will always earn
Exactly what they’re due

And though the apathetic side
Has numbers, it can’t win
Because it chooses to not go
Deeper than just the skin

The Warriors look closer to
Reveal their passion’s source:
The spirit buried deep within
Which keeps their war on course

                                            ~Miro

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Chill Pill

Chill Pill

The dopey eyed and lazy sloth
Says “Take a chill pill, pal!”
He sees the Warrior’s passion
And wants to kill morale

“Chill pill?” the Warrior does ask
“To mellow out? Not care?”
The Warrior does ask the sloth
With his intense, cold stare

“Yeah man,” the sloth does respond
“Just chill, it doesn’t matter”
The Warrior holds his hand up
He’s heard enough sloth chatter

“Doesn’t matter?” Warrior grins
“That is where you are wrong
NEVER DOES IT NOT MATTER!”
He says loud, stern and strong

“What you are’s a cancer on
All people of the world”
The Warrior accuses as
Admonishment is hurled

“Your apathy does suck the life
Of all those passionate
You try to turn them into people
Who don’t give a shit”

The Warrior steps forward and
Now he stands nose to nose
The sloth’s heart starts to race, the Warrior’s
Heart only slows

He takes a slow, deep breath and says
With calm, unnerved boldness:
“Take your chill pill, choke on it
You apathetic mess”

NEVER let someone tell you
That you need to chill out
If it concerns anything that
You’re passionate about

Tell them to just choke on it
I swear they won’t be missed
One less sloth’s lack of passion
To make Warriors pissed

                               ~Miro

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Warriors Rise

Warriors Rise

The difference between most people
And Warriors is motion
Most people will stay sitting
‘Cause they don’t have devotion

A Warrior will rise where most
Men and women will sit
Sitting on their ass is something
Warriors omit

A Warrior will rise to shake
Another person’s hand
A Warrior will rise when people
Do show up unplanned

A Warrior will rise to help
While others sit and stare
A Warrior will rise ‘cause standing
Is how they declare

That they are one in one hundred
The simple little task
Of getting up whenever someone
Has the guts to ask

And even when it’s not requested
Warriors will rise
‘Cause sitting and hoping that “Someone
Else will” they despise

Warriors are “Someone else”
That all others wait for
And Warriors can rise because
They’re not anchored to floor

                                  ~Miro

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Text Addiction

“Why is it drug addicts and computer aficionados are both called users?”  ~Clifford Stoll


Text Addiction

The theatre lights start to dim
The usher goes out on a limb
And says out loud “Please, cell phones off”
You hear a couple people scoff

The warning screen comes up and reads
“Please, cell phones off” and film proceeds
The lights go out except for screens
Still lit up from a couple teens

And twenty-something people plus
Some older who still do discuss
With friends not there through both their thumbs
Eventually a comment comes

“Will you please stop that?” someone calls
The texter covers phone and stalls
But after a few minutes, they
Continue to then text away

Let me delve into their mind
Expose the person who is blind
To many people who surround
These texting people do astound

They do not seem to realize
How their lit screens distract the eyes
The theatre screen should be the
Only lit picture that we see

But when you leave your cell phone on
Our eyes wander and are then drawn
To their selfish little text chatter
That to all others does not matter

It can wait two hours ‘till
The movie’s runtime does fulfill
If someone is unable to
Go without texting for a few

Hours, they really should admit
How they’re unable to commit
That they do lack all self-control
And depend on cell to console

When asking these folks to please cease
I do not bark, but say with peace
“It’s shameful how undisciplined
You are” which makes them quite chagrinned

Because they’ve heard the usher say
And saw the message on display
And while a hundred other men
And women shut off with “amen”

These few users could not let go
Turn cell phone off, enjoy the show
They are elsewhere while hitting keys
And all they create is unease

It’s selfishness I don’t abide
So my true feelings I don’t hide
So many paid their hard earned cash
To watch the film, not cell screen’s flash

So if my first warning’s unheard
The Warrior in me is stirred
I will get up and ask them to
Give me the cell or say adeui

‘Cause everyone else just complains
Everyone in seat remains
But one in every hundred stands
Sticks out their hand and then commands

That their selfishness stops right now
No more of it will we allow
Go outside if you want to text
Or usher’s powers will be flexed

Half the time the texters stop
They turn it off and let it drop
The other half, the texter can’t
Break their addiction so they rant

They’ll call you names and be offended
That on them you have descended
Completely blind to why you spoke
They’ll tell you how you’re a big joke

But guess what? Now they’re feeling frazzled
And movie won’t leave them dazzled
The other half will stand and leave
So either way, you do achieve

Exactly what you set out to
A text addiction broken through
So when you see those screens still lit
Don’t grumble quietly and sit

Stand up, walk over, get in faces
Close enough to see their braces
Jar them out of that machine
‘Cause they are lost within that screen

Oblivious to world around
The paying patrons who surround
So be one of the few who go
The extra mile to let them know

What they are doing is quite weak
Their lack of self-control critique
Regardless of what they say back
They know the discipline they lack

                                              ~Miro