This post first appeared in the Warrior. Every Day. LinkedIn Newsletter on April 20, 2022.
Have you ever suddenly found yourself standing in your home not exactly sure how you got there? You know you drove from work or the store, but the journey itself is a blur. It's like you were transported Star Trek-style from one place to another. Then you blink and suddenly it's a week later, but you don't recall what you did for the last seven days. The brain puts the tasks we perform repeatedly on autopilot as a way to boost productivity and preserve energy.
That automation of mundane tasks is essential, but what happens when we put our lives on autopilot? The week becomes years and years become decades of not being present for your life. This brings me to the second of the seven warrior principles, Awake.
As a brief reminder, the seven principles are Wealth, Awake, Raison d'Etre, Replenish, Invictus, Original, and Reverent.
Warriors Inhabit All The Rooms Of Their Life, Even The Ugly Ones
Not to be confused with being woke, a warrior is awake in their life. They take the time to reflect and are oftentimes present in the moment. Warriors are active mentally, spiritually, and physically. They are always learning and exploring the boundaries of their comfort zone in an effort to reach the growth zone.
If we think of life as a house, the warrior seeks to make the house a home by furnishing it, making it comfortable and inviting, and enjoying the various rooms within. Over time, some rooms may get redecorated or remodeled to accommodate life changes or to update the decor. There is the favorite room that receives a little more attention, but also the room that is less aesthetically pleasing but serves a purpose nonetheless.
A warrior chooses to view their life as something they create, continue to explore, and make their own. In the same way a home owner maintains, repairs, and upgrades their house, the warrior is constantly on a quest to improve life for themselves and others on their terms and according to their purpose and gifts.
To achieve this level of being, a person must first realize they are asleep and then choose to wake. Just because you know you're asleep doesn't mean you want to wake up.
Open Your Eye
The notion of waking is rooted in multiple ancient belief systems. The chakra system is the one that resonates with me the most. When I was searching for clarity, this is where I found it. Chakra is Sanskrit for ‘plexus’, ‘wheel’, or ‘vortex’. Seven chakras are associated with energy fields generated within different parts of the body. Collectively the energy fields move like a wheel or vortex. When the energy is off-balance in one, it can throw off the entire system. The chakras also correspond to distinct life stages. Each chakra develops during specific periods in our life. The sixth is the Ajna, also known as the third eye.
Referred to as the seat of intuition, when the Third Eye is open and balanced, you are able to see the next steps in your path without fear standing in your way. There may be fear, but it isn't preventing your forward motion. Many times when we can't seem to see the path before us or experience uncertainty or doubt about the future, the Third Eye is out of balance.
The warrior relies on a deep relationship with self to identify the source of self-limiting beliefs and irrational (and rational) fears in order to move forward.
It's Not A Mid-Life Crisis - You're Waking Up
For years, I found myself inexplicably drawn to the Om symbol 🕉️. Though there are various schools of thought and Indian religions interpret the Om symbol differently, it roughly translates to a heightened state of awareness and consciousness. While there is debate on whether it’s an actual chakra, it is the seventh and last.
The seventh is the crown of the head, Om, and is often referred to as ‘I know.’ Om or knowing comes last, in our midlife. This season of our lives, according to the practice, lasts about ten years and serves as a natural stage of personal enlightenment and awareness where the intention is to look back and obtain wisdom.
The chakra system originated between 1500 and 500 BC. Then life expectancy was somewhere between 30 and 45 years. That suggests the seventh chakra, Sahasrara, or Brahma, the ‘I know’ came toward the end of life, a natural point of reflection for any human. But because life expectancy has doubled, the enlightenment phase now brings with it the swirl of uncertainty, doubt, and questions about what to do with the next 40 to 50+ years of life. This is the point in life, according to the chakra, that the student becomes the teacher and the teacher becomes the master.
Even though this is a natural progression of human consciousness, Canadian Psychologist Elliott Jacques coined the term midlife crisis in 1957 in London to describe when a person reaches their late thirties and begins to reflect on their life while contemplating what remains of their days on earth. The phenomenon, he asserted, could last several years. The symptoms included a range of things such as promiscuity, boredom, daydreaming, self-questioning, extramarital affairs, and decreased or increased ambition. It’s a rather long list.
In short, a random man proclaimed the natural progression of human awareness as a midlife crisis and gave generations of people a complex about reflecting on their lives. The warrior knows and embraces the fact that we are meant to reach awareness and it's supposed to be challenging in order to obtain wisdom and mastery. And they get to choose a different path if they want.
Astrologically speaking, Generation X is reaching the seventh chakra of 'I Know' during the Age of Aquarius. And that is a whole other post for a whole other day 😂. (Okay, I secretly find astrology fascinating).
I know, it all sounds frou-frou. But, instead of waking up one day years from now, not knowing how you got there, I ask that you open your eye and explore how embracing this warrior principle and being conscious of the world you inhabit will expand the possibilities of your life.
Many of the things I so desperately wanted a mere five years ago are fragmented memories of dreams I had while I was sleeping. 😴
We are all born warriors. To be a warrior is not the exception, it's the rule.