Real Jedi vs Fictional Jedi

Silvermane, your concerns are valid and deserve consideration and respect.

With regard to the fighting thing, it's a funny thing. To my thinking, some manner of training is essential. Learning about fear is essential. Developing resilience is essential. But there is no physical to walk in.

Work to cultivate yourself. This includes the body, but also patience, restraint, focus. Respect yourself enough to see to your needs. Respect yourself enough to not punish yourself for not being perfect.

I agree FOR MY SELF certain requirements that I pursue on MY Jedi path and it includes being fit, trim and able. I teach a martial arts class and so that requirement is directly related to my own personal life and expectations. Those expectations, however, stop with me.

It is not my place to determine the path of another, saving what I would call the exception of my daughter. When she is 18(and knowing that she is so much like me, likely sooner) she will take over that responsibility for herself.

This brings to mind that exception could be made for those with underdeveloped minds i.e. people who never matured mentally though physically they may be adults. If I were so inclined to decide what defines the "adult mind" and be willing to instruct others it is still their responsibility as "adults"(I use the term loosely here) to accept and receive that kind of direct instruction.

End result: Have high standards FOR YOURSELF, and I'm only telling that to myself.

rugadd wrote: I agree FOR MY SELF certain requirements that I pursue on MY Jedi path and it includes being fit, trim and able. I teach a martial arts class and so that requirement is directly related to my own personal life and expectations. Those expectations, however, stop with me.

It is not my place to determine the path of another, saving what I would call the exception of my daughter. When she is 18(and knowing that she is so much like me, likely sooner) she will take over that responsibility for herself.

This brings to mind that exception could be made for those with underdeveloped minds i.e. people who never matured mentally though physically they may be adults. If I were so inclined to decide what defines the "adult mind" and be willing to instruct others it is still their responsibility as "adults"(I use the term loosely here) to accept and receive that kind of direct instruction.

End result: Have high standards FOR YOURSELF, and I'm only telling that to myself.

Very well said rugadd. I personally believe physical fitness should be something we strive for as a Jedi, however I do not believe it is an essential to the Jedi life.

Perhaps I'm being a bit biased because I am not exceptionally fit... but being physically fit does not necessarily entail making yourself mentally fit, on the other hand being mentally fit is more likely to entail that one then becomes physically fit.

When I say "mentally fit" what I mean is the acquisition of knowledge and it's application through wisdom.

Thank you Rugadd. I agree with you on what you said because we should all hold ourselves to a higher standard. We have personal goals that we all want to achieve, but if we set those goals so low we don't gain much when we complete them. I have always been told that when setting a goal, it should be slightly out of reach and that further work and focus would be required to reach it.

I hold myself accountable to lose weight, to work out and make my best, better every chance I get. Some people might not be able to do much on the physical side of things, but they are super intelligent and focus more on the Mental and Spiritual side of things. Whatever the goal is, always do it to the best of your ability and push just a little harder to make your best, better.

The biggest thing I wanted people to understand and consider is that none of us are perfect and we are all different as well as we all have different abilities and capabilities. This is does not make any one of us any less of a Jedi. We strive for perfect practice with our strengths and work on bettering our weaknesses.

Thank you all again, you are all such wonderful Jedi.

Silvermane wrote:
We strive for perfect practice with our strengths and work on bettering our weaknesses.

THIS. This makes us Jedi.

I would disagree- that's what makes us good Jedi. But what makes us Jedi is our want for a better world - not for ourselves but for the world itself.

But that's my view of it. Jedi have a responsibility to the self, but are not about the self.

Alethea Thompson wrote:
But that's my view of it. Jedi have a responsibility to the self, but are not about the self.

The way that the Marine Corps says it is "Mind, Body, Weapon" you take care of those three things, you will be an efficient Marine. Same goes for being a Jedi, although the weapon part isn't as ingrained in day to day activities haha

The Air Force extends it a bit

Mental, Physical, Spiritual, and Social Wellness makes a person whole. I like the additional pillars we use because I've seen what it does to me when I'm short in one of those sections. Although you can probably bundle "Mental, Spiritual, Social" into "Mind" if you wanted to

Alethea - of course. Allow me a retraction and a replacement statement.

"THIS. This is part of the mind frame of a good Jedi to me."