Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, The Way of the Warrior (p. 42). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) But it seems like they would want to change. But Erwin says, “It may seem completely counterintuitive, but in my experience, depressed people are the least likely to be willing to change any of their life patterns. In other words, people who hate their lives are the least likely to change them. When you love your life, you are more open to change. When you somehow find yourself in a life you never wanted, it has a paralyzing effect. It becomes a subtle version of Stockholm syndrome, where you develop an unhealthy relationship to your captor and disdain for anyone trying to set you free. “I’ve learned this lesson the hard way over the past forty years. I have tried one too many times to help people move out of lives they hate to lives they could love. The problem is that the change

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, The Way of the Warrior (p. 33). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) So, what path are your choices taking you? Erwin says, “The fool lives to consume all they can take from the world. The wise live to create a better world. The way of the warrior is to choose the path of nobility. The warrior also understands that wisdom is gained not in a moment but in an endless number of moments in which choices must be made. He then says, “When you choose to take, you choose the path of the fool. When you choose to give, you choose the way of the wise.” He goes on, “The warrior never fights out of anger; they fight only out of honor. They never fight to conquer; they fight only to liberate. The warrior fights against evil so that good may prevail. Wisdom is revealed by what a person fights for. If you fight for yourself, you have given yourself to too small

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, The Way of the Warrior (p. 29). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Oh, we need wisdom, don’t we? Erwin says, “It cannot be purchased or easily gained. You may overpower an enemy and yet still die a fool. While there are many expressions of wisdom, for our purposes it will be defined as the ability to bring peace. When the warrior is wise, they fight only for peace. The proof of their victory is that they have created a world where what is good and beautiful and true prevails. The fool is the enemy of wisdom. The fool is driven by greed and power and violence. The fool uses their weapons to harm, injure, and destroy. The warrior wields a weapon only to defend, protect, and liberate. “The warrior does not wield a weapon; they are a weapon. Their strength does not come from the weapons they hold but from the wisdom that has taken hold of them. The n