warriors are we...

     I never understood why my big brother is so careless with his travel plans. I’ve traveled with him twice outside the states. Once was for two weeks in Austria and Germany and the second time was when he came to visit me in Ireland for a week. We had no plans when we arrived in Austria and since I didn’t know any German I left everything up to him. I guess ignorance truly is bliss because I thought he had everything under control. While except for the first day when his insistence that we didn’t need travelers cheques backfired and we didn’t have any money. That was about the same time I learned that the human body can survive on beer and sausages for a surprisingly long time. I had a great time with my brother for those two weeks, however, and consider it a defining experience in my life.
     When he came to visit me in Ireland, however, I learned that my brother abhors planning. In fact, I learned how absolutely reckless he is when it comes to traveling. I learned that he was arriving in Ireland shortly after he arrived in Ireland. In true Nathan style, he came across the ocean without being bothered by a little thing like my phone number. He also arrived without any firm plans of what he wanted to do, how we were going to get around or how long he was staying. It was like seeing the wizard behind the curtain and releasing he is just a guy with an airplane ticket, passport, and a jar of nutella.
     I am starting to realize that my brother is more than a nitwit. He is an adventurer. He is a challenger. He likes the thrill of the hunt and he doesn’t like doing anything the easy way (or sometimes the most intelligent way). And I have always liked that about my brother. But I now know it is more than an admirable trait. It is a survival trait. As humans, we have to be tough. We have to be prepared for battles in our lives. We must not seek comfort in our life, because we will never find it. It is a big lie in our lives that if we work hard and sacrifice and do everything right we will find comfort. It is a lie that we are working for a rest. We toil and suffer because this is the nature of the beast. This is the nature of the world we live in.
     Everyone who is reading this is a fighter. The fact that you have made it this far in your life is a great testimony. You have not given up, you have not thrown in the towel. And there are many of you, who have even done better than that. You have not only not given up, you have fought back. You have done what so many of us wish we could do. You have been a warrior.
     I’m not talking about some homicidal maniac who thinks the terrorists are just around every 7-11, and carries around a concealed gun, “because damnit, you don’t know who is trying to get you!” No I mean people who have a warrior spirit. Those who don’t give in when all those voices in their heads are telling them they can’t do it. These are the warriors of our world, those who fight and fight and fight and who know that the battle will only end when they die, still fighting. I want to be like that.
     My brother is a warrior. In fact, I come from a family of warriors. I always knew my father was a warrior. He was a marine, then a police officer, and the toughest man I’ve ever known. My brother followed in my father’s footsteps and became a police officer too. Like my father, he is a tough MF. My mother, too, is a warrior though I am sure she hates being called one. I always knew that teaching was a hard job and that she was tired at the end of the day from work, but I didn’t know it was from fighting. While she wasn’t fighting literal bad guys like my brother and father, she was fighting the bad guys known as ignorance, apathy, and skewed priorities. Like me she is a teacher. Now I know why she is tired from fighting that battle everyday for 20 years.
     I want to be a warrior. I have always wanted to be a warrior, but I thought the life of a warrior was different. I thought it was about fighting and finding relief. Far from it, the life of a warrior is a fight. Until we die. It isn’t about glory. It is about surviving. It isn’t about taking an easy way out. It is about attacking the problem head on and having faith that when the going really gets bad, when you are outnumbered, when you run out of ammunition, that you will find the strength to continue or that the cavalry will arrive. I am learning this everyday. And I am slowly accepting this Truth. I will not live a valiant life by looking for an easy way out. I will not become a warrior by booking my trip months ahead and filling out an itinerary line by line. I will only succeed by hopping on that plane and hoping that my brother will somehow meet me there at the airport