“Confidence... thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.”
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
Notice how this quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt embodies tenets of living with what I call the Warrior's Edge.
Honesty must be a core of who we are and of our interactions with others. We must be honest with ourselves. and we must be honest with others. Being honest with ourselves can sometimes be the more difficult of the two, but this will help our conscious stay clear, allow us to sleep at night, and live with true integrity.
Honor has been a tenet of the warrior class for centuries, but it must be true honor, which I have posted about before, not misguided notions of honor.
The sacredness of obligations can be stated simply as do what you say you will. If you are not going to do it, don't say it. If you say it, you should mean it and do everything you can to ensure you accomplish what you say you will. This encompasses many things, from paying your bills to following through on simple little promises. It means doing the work your employer pays you to do, and paying your employees fairly for the work they do for you.
Faithful protection is a notion that those that embody the spirit of living as a warrior understand completely. Those of us who served or serve in the military understand protecting our country, law enforcement understand protecting others, and all men and women who live with a warrior type personal code understand the importance of protecting not only themselves, but others too, especially family.
And finally, the thought of unselfish performance. The word Samurai noted one who served. The importance of serving other unselfishly and performing our best in that service enables us to be confident in our actions because they go beyond our own interests.
There is a lot to that simple quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Maybe it's not so simple after all. I hope these thoughts help you think about what is really important and recognize that everything counts.
