Forced, violent control is actually weak.

Forced, violent control doesn’t last.

Gentle control is strong.

Gentle control is lasting.

Patience is a mental superpower rooted in confidence and expressed in strength.

Holding on to our past pain allows us to explain away our victimhood.

The past pain continues to hurt us the more we hold on to it.

Our pain holds us back, our pain holds us down.

Once we let go, we have nothing to fall back on.

Once we let go, the only place we can go is up.

Stress is a response.

We choose our responses to every situation.

We choose our stress.

The will to continue on, to keep trying, to keep fighting for a right and just purpose is courage.

This spirit of resilience no matter the grief or pain is the ultimate example of courage

In order to find peace, we must get over, go through, go around, or get past anger, jealousy, resentment, pride, pain, hate, and control.

If you are willing to suffer for it, to endure pain for it, to die for it, then it is worth protecting, it is worth doing, it is worth loving.

If not, then you are wasting your time.

Find what/who is worth it and support that.

As a Spartan your shield was everything.

You held it onto not only for your own safety but more importantly for the safety of your entire team.

You always protect those you care about and your shield is that first line of defense.

What is your shield today?

Is it love?

Is it truth?

Is it courage?

Is it prayer?

Whatever shield you are carrying, as long as everyone still has the shield in place, you will always be safe.

Your physical reward should never equal your emotional, mental, and spiritual.

Your honor, your self-respect, your fulfillment, your passion – should far surpass your monetary reward.

If you make your goal excellence, then your daily habit has to be practice. Nothing else will make sense.