Level 4.30 - Courage

Level Your Life  - [The Level of Courage][4.30]

Courage

Courage describes those who are willing to take calculated risks and have frequent encounters with danger. Such behavior makes us inwardly strong, instilling a profound awareness of life filled with new meaning and richness. Risk taking requires courages, which comes from the French word coeur :heart. This kind of heart requires innate strength; it can not rely on blind pride, simply daring to take a leap.

We certainly encourage taking calculated risks that have the potential to lead to significant breakthroughts in yourlife. Emphasize being on "calculated" (not stupid).

"First you jump off the cliff and you build your wings on the way down and fly."

Like the warrior, however, you must develop a high tolerance for failure when you jump, understanding that all setbacks are ways to learn how to enhance performance. Failure is your essential and inevitable teacher. For every step back, you go forward two.

Courage demands that you be fearless.You must learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable if you are to experience the extraordinary. 

Andre Gidé "you cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."

In Chinese, the word for courage also implies daring to go beyond one´s limits. Dare to lose by trying because not trying is the more painfull loss.

Declaration: I am courageous,risk-taking warrior who possesses a high tolerance for setbacks. Risks are the dues I pay for breakthroughs.

Reflection: What risks could I take that would imrprove my performance ? My life ? What is the worst-case scenario if I take the risk and it doesn`t work out ?

[paraphrased and inspired by Spirit of the Dancing Warrior]

Level 4.24 - Suffering

Level your Life  - [The Level of Suffering] [4.24]

Suffering

The physical life is difficult , it can be excruciatingly uncomfortable,phsyically,emotionally and spiritually. But we know that if you wish to improve, you need to suffer or become uncomfortable.
For example; by their very nature, sports and fitness , while they bring joy and satisfaction, evoke suffering in all of us: we sometimes have feelings of frustration,fear,grief,sadness,regret,anger,anxiety or despair. This is exactly like life as a whole but more intense and occuring over a shorter duration.
Whenever you seek advancement and higher levels of performance in any aspect of life, you experience some elements of suffering. But when you leave your comfort zone and become uncomfortable, notice how expansive your potential truly is.

Buddhist thought tells us that we must accept suffering as a way of life; 
this is the first of Four Noble Truths in Zen.

All greatness,awareness and acute sensitivity are the natural outcomes of adversity and suffering.
The warrior knows that in suffering - experiencing painful feelings or being uncomfortable - you begin to see the more meaningful side of life. There is wisdom in the existential experience of suffering. Deep appreciation is often residual benefit. When you can take this stance , you grwo, learn, blossom and connect with your warrior within.



Declaration: I welcome my physicial journey with all its suffering and pain and as a result I reach the far boundaries of my full human potential.

Reflection: With regard to my physical life, what kinds of suffering and sacrifice could contribute to my overall improvement and growth ? What stops me from embracing the suffering ?

[paraphrased and inspired by Spirit of the Dancing Warrior]