Showing posts with label Reflections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reflections. Show all posts

Monday, November 27, 2023

The Art of Peace, and The Art of War.

 The Art of Peace is the better path if one can follow it without fail or needing to deviate from it because of conflict.  

The Art of War is a less desired path but often peace can only exist with war.



The symbol of the Tao and Taoist teachings speaks of balance in all things.

The Art of Peace and The Art of War are opposite but complementary similar to the Yin and Yang.

Morihei Ueshiba the founder of "Aikido" which translates directly to "The Art of Peace", said

"To injure an opponent is to injure yourself.  To control aggression without inflicting injury is the Art of Peace."
The above Quote is from "The Art of Peace"-Teachings of the Founder of Aikido, pg 64.
Compiled and Translated by John Stevens, Shambala Boston &London 1992.

Supporting the notion that The Art of Peace is the better path, than the Art of War, 

"According to Sun Tzu (Author of The Art of War), war is only justifiable when all possible alternatives have been completely exhausted. Only when you are threatened by an enemy with military action should you resort to armed conflict. And even then, a direct clash of arms is to (be) avoided." 

reference below by Patrick Lefler,
 
August 22, 2010

http://www.spruancegroup.com/blog/bid/29088/Sun-Tzu-and-The-Art-of-War-Avoid-direct-confrontations-at-all-costs


I've spent much of my life studying and practicing the Art of War, but these days I study and strive to understand both, to maintain balance in my life. 

In truth, one cannot remain without the other and vice versa, because even though we strive for peace there is always conflict.

These are the rambling thoughts of an old retired soldier, they now call us "Soldiers for Life".  

Arthur Elder, Sergeant First Class SFC/E-7 U.S. Army Retired.  


Sunday, August 2, 2020

This Day

1. 080220

My rage is incurable, never leaving me alone. I thought it was over though it comes again. I dream of running in the mountains and screaming from within. The rage is forever once more.


2.

I feel myself falling apart. I cannot know this angers begins. On a precipice never to gain ground or footing. Where can this soul let go?


3.

Love is a trial, a test, a trap, corrupting reason beyond life, and control. Strength is not standing firm for the sake of another and not your own. Where can I let go? 

4.

Like a martyr bloody and alone facing the killers who would stone me, beat me, and burn me upon the stake. Sacrifice, truth, and right are two-edged swords that can be for good but injure or destroy the user.


5.

Rage goes on.


A.A.Elder 080220




“You know the only thing I remember from Sunday school is the martyrs. The saints, the saviors. They all end up the same way. Bloody. And alone.”

Daredevil.


The quote is from the series Daredevil.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/244249979767821344/

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Beyond the Grave (A year later)

One year ago today, between 5 pm and 9 pm I died.

The doctors managed to revive me and I survived.
When I died I was on the operating table and without the operation death would have been inevitable either way.

Death can put many things in perspective, as well as experiencing the amount of pain I was in prior to the operation.  It was a hard many days after the surgery and a month or so before I was truly stable.  

I am doing much better today, though there are minor challenges.  The reality is I am doing much better than most of my immediate family who I have to continue to be strong for.

I often wondered how and why I survived, but each day there is evidence that I was suppose to.

Remember you do not know when your day will end and the Long Journey begins.

Do your best daily, pursue your dreams, and love those around you today.


Friday, July 4, 2014

The Fourth of July; "The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776."

As Americans it is important to know what we are really about.  There is a very disturbing trend in our country at this time.  We have lost our vision of who we are and what we are about.
We say we love our freedoms but we are letting them be taken from us a little at a time.
We have become so complacent, so weak willed, so willing to let those who don't believe or care about our history take those freedoms away, and to dishonor those who have sacrificed everything so we can be free.
This is the Fourth of July.  We honor who we are and our Declaration of Independence from tyranny.
But wait, there are those who say don't show the American Flag you might offend someone in your country of America.  How weak is that to be embarrassed by our flag.  With exception of the American Indians, we all came from another place, another country, another race.  Those who came here came ("I hope") to be Americans.  If not then they are here for another reason and it does not conform with of have our best interests in mind.
I do not care if you are a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, from another race, country, etc etc, if you chose to come to this country, your intent should be to become an American.  If you are an American you should be proud of your American flag, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States of America, The Star Spangled Banner.  If you call yourself an American but do not love, are embarrassed by, are offended because of, or are afraid of offending because of, these things who make us what we are, then I say you are not really Americans. And if you are not for us then you are against us, it is a form of treason.  You should be suspect as terrorists for not loving your country, for what it is made up of and what it stands for.
No one should have the right to take away what we should stand for.  I say fly the Flag, Sing the Star Spangled Banner, Say the pledge of allegiance in public with pride.

No other country or group of people who have an agenda against our way of life, cares if they offend us.  They burn our flag in their public places, and chant hate against us.

If your and American, Be an American and be proud of it and all that goes with it.  If not then find another place to live, because you are the enemy.  
Here is our Declaration.       

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

6 March 2014 The Real Thing

It is important to be a person who is able to relate in some way with others, but at the same time not lose sight of who you are as an individual.  It is not important to be liked by everyone, but it is important to be the kind of person that everyone can get along with in order to be a positive asset for work, organizations, or anything where cooperation is essential.

When you are hurt as an individual, it is easy to be angry all the time.  Anger is a wall of defense to keep others from getting close to you.  If you are not close to someone emotionally the you are not hurt quite as much when they do something that does hurt you.

It is difficult for many of us to trust others especially when we have been severely hurt by those who we are suppose to be able to trust.  Trust is a difficult thing and not easy to maintain when life as been rough all along.

I have no idea where I am going with this line of thinking, it is just stuff that is on my mind.


Monday, March 28, 2011

Seeking Depth

1 January 2011 to 28 March 2011, that is how long I have been out of the Army.  77 days ago I spent my first official day as a civilian for over 22 plus years.  Today I started my second quarter of college.  I am glad to be back in Washington although in some ways it seems foreign to me.  I've been like a refugee for the whole time being moved every 2 to 3 yrs over the last 22yrs 7mos and 8days.  you kind of get to a point in which you no longer feel like you belong in a place or that you have a place to belong.  So far day one of quarter two is not too bad.  In my English class we are reading a book that brings back a lot of my memories from 1990 and 1991 which is a little disturbing to me in some ways.  More Later.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

The Lost Time:

Life is so short we should never waist the time we have.  I'm guilty of wasting the precious moments I have and can never regain.  You don't think about it as much when you at in your teens or twenties, but at age 50+ you start to think what the hell am I doing not taking advantage of the time I have.  I have things that are still unfinished that I thought I would have had completed by this time.  I know 50 is not that old and I still can do most of those things I wanted to do when I was younger but it seems that focusing on those things is difficult.  Creativity can be a blessing and a curse at the same time.  I'm am trying to express myself as best I can but have not been sticking with it the way I should have all along.  It is hard to balance family, required projects and creative projects.  I have seen people I care for and/or have just been acquainted with passing on to the next life not fulfilling what they wanted to finish.  Trying to play catch up now that I am past that first career.  I am trying not to allow myself to be discouraged after all I have been away from the last career only 21 days and am still organizing things on the start of this new life.  I feel like I am falling behind which sucks because for this moment in time I should be relaxing more.  This is the one moment in time I will be able to do so before I have to get going again.  Well no worries this is easy compared to the last 22 years, 7 months and 8 days.  I have a lot to do and much I want to do.  Footnote to the above I would not trade who I am now for the person I was at 18 or 20 for anything. 

Friday, October 15, 2010

Dawn of a New Day, New Life, New Chapter

I am excited to be going home, being retired, and starting a new life chapter with Dee.  
Of course at the same time it is a lot of change we are talking about and still much to do once I get home.

I will miss the people I work with and the life, but I am moving on to a new life.  

Yesterday I went through my final out process with my transition counselor.  She gave me my DD214, a pin that says Retired US Army, and my American Flag traditionally folded and in a box.  On the box for both the pin and flag it says, " I was a Soldier, I am a Soldier, I will always be a Soldier".  That is a true enough statement because the Soldier never really leaves you once you have lived that life.


I am joining the ranks of the Retired American Veteran, also something to be proud of.  It is hard to realize it is finally here.  

Forgive me if I go on about this too much but this is a whole change of life style I am heading toward.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Changing the colours.

No I didn't miss spell colors in the title.  I spelled it the English spelling on purpose because I like the way it looks spelled that way.  Does anyone like the song by Chicago "Colour My World"?  I do and have for many years.  That is where I first saw color spelled colour and liked it better at least on literary things.  So yes I am weird and a little eccentric sometimes just go with it.


–adjective
1.
deviating from the recognized or customary character, practice, etc.; irregular; erratic; peculiar; odd: eccentric conduct; an eccentric person.
 
Yes that's me at times, but all of us have those moments in which we deviate from the norm.  Individuality that is my new colour.  Going from the uniform way of thinking, dressing and doing things to a whole different outlook.  Okay I'm not being quite truthful here, I have always been an individual but I am soon going to be freer to be individual.  
 
That is liberating in some ways and terrifying in other ways.  The required routine will soon be gone and I will have to determine my own routine.  Not really a problem because in the job I have been doing the last couple of years for the Army I have had a lot of latitude.  Still it will take getting use to for all the changes that are coming.
 
More Greyzone  later .

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Stop, Look, Listen, Smell the Aroma

I'm trying to learn to slow down and enjoy those things around me I have had so little time to experience in a joyful manner.  The sound from brass wind chimes on the porch where I am staying.  The feel, sound and smell of the heavy rain we had today in central Texas.  Listening to some of the music I love.  So much in the past few years has been filled with constant "go go go".  Some people will never understand those simple things, and times.  That is why I am returning to a small town in Washington hopefully to a more simple mind set.  Yes I will be going to school and working but without that to do I would go nuts, not to mention I couldn't pay my bills.  But to be able to walk the main street from one end of town to the other with no problem or great expense of time.  This is what I hope for.  I'm looking for some balance in my life and some healing for my spirit and soul.  I've allowed myself to become very callus, both in my heart and mind, as my defence to protect me from "things that are required".  I know I've been strengthened by my life so far but also weakened in some ways.

No one is indestructible, and the ones who think they are usually are trying to self destruct.

Just more self reflection to be done.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Just Above the Darkness

Life is a never ending struggle, sometimes large struggles sometimes small.  It keeps us strong if we can live with the event.  Some things I have fought with all of my life it seems like.  Those areas are from my dark side and I have to guard against them always.

It is hard exorcising those demons, and often really puts you through your paces.

Anger is the big one for me and all the problems that follow along with it.

It separates me from those around me because it causes me to turn in on myself in order to control it.

More about that maybe later.

Here is a quote that speaks to my natures need.

"The undisturbed mind is like the calm body water reflecting the brilliance of the moon. Empty the mind and you will realize the undisturbed mind." - Yagyu Jubei

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Closer to the end of Career One. The Next Chapter.

So we are in the middle of the big move.  Dee goes on before me to our next dwelling and I remain until I am released to go on Permissive TDY and terminal leave.  We have gone full circle and are returning home.  Our belongings have already been picked up and I am in my temporary dwelling until I clear.  

So now I reflect on 22+ years of service, both with pride and trepidation.  Passing from soldier to retired veteran, still being a part of something but not what I was.  Trying to figure out what I will identify with when all is said and done. 

Passing are the ways of the Soldier Warrior, coming are the days of the Warrior Sage.

So then I prepare to begin again starting over in a way but not.  I have what my career has given me which was more than I came with when I joined.  

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Current Reflections

It is very easy to reflect and in some instances relive the past, both good and bad.  The longer one lives the more one has to reflect on, or to forget either on purpose or without trying.  Some reflections make you happy some sad, but all those events were and are a part of what makes you the unique member of this world you are.

Each person in this world is uniquely different and thank God that is so, because wouldn't it be dull if we were all alike in every way;  Just little robots walking along thinking alike and doing the same thing day in and day out.

Some leaders, governments and persons would like us to be a Society without freedom to be creative, to have individual thoughts, and ideas.

Being lawful and moral is a good thing which keeps us from chaos, but we must never allow the corrupted interpretation of what is right to over shadow the rights we have as people.

Prejudice plays a very large role in weakening our country and the whole of the world.  No one race, religion, creed, color, age or sex should put down another because they think they are right or better.  We are all people first of all and individuals, with the right to live hopefully in peace.

Prejudice plays upon our fears of persons and ways we do not understand, nor are we willing to find out about and understand.

It is important to respect and listen to those who are wise but ever necessary to prove in your hearts and minds that they are truly wise.

These are just words, opinions I place before you to ponder and either accept or refute.

Truth is a hard lesson to digest sometimes, just look at history and your own lives to see what I mean.