The warrior's life.

It is one thing to study war

and another to live the warrior's life.

-Telamon of Arcadia

Truer words have never been spoken.  Try out your own:

It is one thing to study art, and another to live the artist's life.  

It is one thing to study mindfulness, and another to live a mindful life.

It is one thing to study compassion, and another to live a compassionate life.

Today, everyone has all the information they need.  We are all comfortable in our concepts and the data at hand.  Everyday I see a new study professing the benefits of mindfulness or meditation.  We feel safe in what we know and act as an expert in that sphere.

But we are living in a bubble.  

The lived experience is raw, naked and exposed.  The lived experience is one of working intimately with failure, fear, doubt and uncertainty.  Those who actually go out to battle know that those concepts have tastes and textures.  

The warrior has scars that give them conviction.  Conviction that this battle is worth fighting.  

The warrior knows that giving into the resistance means certain loss.  

The artist knows that giving into the resistance means art not done.

The mindful practitioner knows that giving into the resistance means a wandering mind.

The compassionate soul knows that giving into resistance means turning away.   

If you haven't bridged the gap between study and the lived experience all you have to do is identify the resistance.  When you encounter it in your life, stay with it, work with it.  That is the practice- this is the path forward.

Welcome to the real world.