My thoughts on what it is to be a Warrior

I am often asked “What is a Warrior,” and over the years I have pondered the question. Thinking back to talks with my Pop and other Elders. There is a misconception that a Warrior is a great fighter, brave in battle. A Warrior is that to be sure. But so are those who sit and wait, those who have overcome physical afflictions.

A Warrior is a state of mind, a state of spirit, not just a word written or spoken about. It is action, compassion, acceptance of what the Great Spirit has given us. It is how we look at life and react to what happens to us. A few years back I wrote the below poem when I thought about what a Warrior is. I am a Warrior. You see, we have free will. The Creator decides what to put in out path that is our life. It is what we choose to do with it that determines the outcome. Do we go left, right or straight. The path we choose has the trials and tribulations already laid upon its path. It has the hopes, pleasures, futures there for our choosing. Being a Warrior is living with the choice we have made and acceptance of it.

The Gift

The Great Spirit said, “I am going to give you a tremendous gift.”
“I hope I am worthy of this gift,” I replied.
The Great Spirit said he would inflict me with a disease.
“Disease as a gift?” I asked. I could not fathom illness as a gift.

“What you do with this gift depends on you,” he said.
“You can treat it as a curse, or accept it for what it is.
You can lament or make the best of it. It is up to you.
What you do and how you act will prove if you are a Warrior.”

He struck me with Polio and paralyzed my legs.
Doctor’s said I will never walk again.
But I did. I learned to walk and run.
I thank the Great Spirit every day.
He taught me that those without legs are worthy.

He struck me with Graves’ disease.
Life was pure hell for a few years.
Loss of memory, pain, and tremors,
But I got better.

I learned that by helping others with Graves’
I could help to heal myself.
I learned that helping others is a worthy cause.
I learned I had the strength to keep going
Even when I had no strength left.
I learned that as bad off as I felt there was another
Who was worse off than I who I could help.

I learned that instead of reaching for a helping hand
I had become the hand that was reached for.
Instead of being in the abyss I was on the edge
Helping others out of the void.

The Great Spirit said, “I will take your vision.”
My eyes bulged and pained.
Vision started to dim and colors were lost.
My eyes went askew and looked in different directions,
But I got better

Sixteen eye surgeries,
Much pain and discomfort,
Orbital Radiation on my eyes left me with cataracts,
But I got better.

I learned that even with no sight I was worthy.
I saw with my mind what my eyes could no longer.
I learned that by helping other’s with eye problems.
I helped myself.

I am a Warrior. I no longer look at a person the same.
I see what is inside them not the shell of the body.
Instead of seeing a person in a wheelchair
I see a person who was given a gift.

I see the Great Spirit gave them a gift too.
I admire their strength.
I admire their courage.
I admire their will.

I pay homage to a fellow Warrior as we pass by.
I thank the Great Spirit for these gifts.
Fore they made me the man I have become.