The Ethical Warrior - discussing Robert Humphrey

I have been fortunate enough to meet Jack Hoban on a few occassions. He is a really wonderful man.

Please give the article a read. I'd like to hear your thoughts.

The Ethical Warrior: A True Test of the Warrior Creed

I think this is a neat article and a good view of life as a Warrior. However we must also consider the other side of that coin. When in public settings sometimes we need to not take a stance of protection of others but of protection FROM others. Not all we encounter will be of altruistic leanings so we need to keep a vigilance towards both protection as well as intimidation. I understand the component he describes as even taking that protective stance to those who may have criminal intent, but I think that is a protection of their rights under the law - not allowing mob rule etc. But there may also be times when securing a situation may require means outside those perceptions.

The other thing I think we need to keep in mind is that as warriors we are a part of a kinship as well. This means there may be times in our lives where we need the protection vs being required to provide it. I think family and friends should fill this role. The incident he describes when he comes home was a good example of this. He was not in a place to provide that protection and it took that behaviour in others to re-center his calm. Although I think his friend may have been a little coarse in that action this may have been what he needed. Others may just need nurturing or other more gentle reminder. I know many times I will come home in this state and my partner, whom I very much consider to be a Warrior, has to just give me a hug and gently whisper in my ear that I am being an ass but also remind me that I am still loved no matter what in order to diffuse the situation. We can never be perfect in all we do and in those times its important to let others help us as well.

It's like you knew that I needed to hear this! Since the first of the year, it has been max overtime at work, so I'm up at 3am and don't get home until about 6pm. Sometimes I need to stop and remember that there is usually a houseful of people that are happy that I am home!

As an Infantry Marine this hit's me personally. Especially after returning from deployment and trying to transition between always being on alert and ready for combat to shopping at the grocery store has it's challenges. I know I have to decompress or else I'm irritable and remind myself that the warrior in me needs to take a back seat and that the kind man I am needs to take the wheel since I'm not always in immediate danger. A big thing that helps is seeing the happiness of others and knowing I do what I do so that these people can have the freedoms they enjoy and now that I'm back I can enjoy those freedoms as well. I will always be that ethical warrior until i die because I'd rather be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.