Soulful Sundays: Conflict

“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties—but right through every human heart.” — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Before taking on life’s challenges, we must first take on the challenges within ourselves. Conveniently, outer conflict mimics the landscape that is present inside and can be a powerful teacher in unraveling its hidden depths. Behavior during stress reveals both the positive and negative coping strategies that we have adopted for survival. Over time, these tendencies solidify into systems of belief which influence all aspects of our lives. If we want freedom to choose our future—and not just react to whatever force currently afflicts us—then we would benefit from a habit of conflict training. We must become like warriors.

The cornerstone of warriorship is undaunted courage to face what we must, especially our own mortality. The warrior has no time to waste on self-deception. The warrior knows his limits but also does not make excuses for his shortcomings. He owns his fate and, thus, is free from conflict with his circumstances. There is only what is and what can be done about it. Conflict will arise, but he need not instigate it. And when it does come, he will be the first to do his part to resolve it—no more, no less.

While conflict is natural, it is not the natural state of the world. When our ego’s plans contradict the Universal one, then struggle emerges, and either we let go of our assumptions or we spend our whole lives fighting. So many people become trapped into believing that they and their problems are one and the same. Incapable of resolution, they carry the weight unnecessarily and miss out on joy. Conflict should inform us, not define us. As warriors, we are responsible for upholding our part of the dynamic—defending what deserves to be defended, forgiving those who have wronged us, making amends to those we have wronged, and letting go of all that is not ours to control. In the end, we must remember that the goal of a good warrior is not conflict. Fundamentally, his purpose is to protect peace.