To be strong and to endure when the time comes, you must train your body. Like steel, you must temper it and remove the impurities.
To perceive the environment and to act accordingly, you must train your mind. Grow in intelligence and knowledge. Grow through experience.
To be able to move forward when those around you are paralyzed with fear, you must train your heart. Your soul. Become accustomed doing uncomfortable things.
Discipline. Wisdom. Courage. Training in these virtues is a selfish pursuit. It is purely to make you better. It is to prepare you for the hard times. To be the hero when the world (or your family or community) is in need of one.
When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness. –Joseph Campbell
The transformation may begin selfish, but it becomes charity. It becomes love. Acting for those who need a helping hand. Acting for those who are unable to act for themselves. You can be untrained and still step up in the dark moment, but will you be as effective?
We plant in the spring, grow in the summer, and gather in the fall. Why? To prepare for the harshness of the winter. In the same manner we should plant the seeds of virtue and cultivate them when the times are easy. For we will need them when the dark days arrive. The world will need its heroes. Be ready when the call comes.
The hero prepares, not selfishly, but to give.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. –John 15:13
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