Things that come easy have little value. The good things in life, not good as in the world tells you that they are good but that are good by the primal/cosmic order, are not easily won. This applies to all facets in life from “Faint heart never won fair lady” to “Fortune favors the bold” and beyond to many more. Things that are worthwhile are not easily attained and do not yield their fruits easily.
This also applies to the qualities that we want to develop in life. Wisdom, courage, beauty, character, masculinity, strength, maturity, intelligence, social understanding, and so much more. We must work hard and work smart, as I’ve said before. We must adopt the mindset to seek out hard things and try to master them. Some things we may never master but by rising to the challenge we will ennoble ourselves and become more than we would have otherwise.
And that’s a big part of becoming a man, becoming who you were meant to be, making the most of your potential, becoming the renaissance man, the warrior poet, ennobling yourself. The path to becoming noble, in the true sense of the word, the cosmic/primal order meaning of the word. It’s not an easy path and it’s a path that few will go on for the long run. However it is the path that yields the greatest and highest rewards. Most don’t think it but the path to ennoblement is filled with two things that much spend their entire lives avoiding and hence will never become truly noble.
The Path To Nobility Is Filled With These Two Things
The path to becoming all these great things we talk about and develop the traits required to be the warrior poet is filled with two things that most spend their entire lives trying to get away from, and those two things are suffering and pain. Now let’s first define what is meant by suffering and pain. There are two types of suffering and pain. This is “good” or ennobling suffering and pain and then there is “bad” suffering and pain. Let’s first distinguish between the two before we go on.
When most people think of suffering and pain they think of the bad versions of suffering and pain. These are things that when you go through they only take away from you, only hurt and destroy and afterwards leave you worse off then when you started. Ennobling suffering and pain are things that may suck in the moment and may hurt you in some cases but through the process of going through them you acquire more of the noble, good, and hard won and fought for traits we’ve talked about.
An example of bad suffering and pain would be getting beat to a pulp as a child for no reason. This is suffering and pain but it does nothing to ennoble one, it destroys one’s spirit and soul and there is no ennobling aspect to it. It is simple bad. However this is not what I mean by suffering and pain. By suffering and pain I’m talking about the ennobling suffering and pain, the good suffering and pain. Sort of like the difference between distress and eustress, one is bad and negative and the other is good and helpful.
An example of the suffering and pain I’m talking about would be pushing yourself during a hard run, it sucks in the moment but has ennobling fruits. Likewise sticking to a diet when everyone around you is eating unhealthy food. Or sticking to a certain way of life when everyone around you is doing something different. Good suffering and pain isn’t pleasant but it has ennobling fruits. It’s hard and required discipline and mental fortitude to do, but that’s why it provides to good ennobling fruits.
Without Struggle There Is No Growth
Another way to put this is that without struggle there is no growth. Struggle is the basic for masculinity, strength, and for developing most noble, sought after, and important qualities within yourself. Good things don’t come without struggle. So in your life you need to have times when you seek out struggle, when you seek out challenges, so that you may overcome them and become more. Without challenge, without challenging goals we feel adrift and lost in life. Though most avoid it, we need challenge and struggle in life to function properly.
Again we’re talking about the good challenge and struggle here. The ennobling kind that we should seek out in our life as much as possible. And just like eustress, stress produced by good things like working out, protects against distress, “bad” stress produced by not having enough money, relationship worries, etc., in the same way good struggle/pain/suffering helps to protect you against and make you more resilient against bad struggle/pain/suffering. So even, or especially, if you feel overwhelmed then seeking out sources of good struggle should be a top priority to you.
Suffering a little every day, struggle a little every day, have a little bit of pain every day. That’s what I try to live by. Now there are some days when this doesn’t happen but everyday I try to do something that is going to push me, make me struggle, make me work, make me fight, make me uncomfortable essentially. There are times when I’ll take a day off here and there for various reasons but for the most part, and especially when things are going bad, I try to find something each and every day that’ll make me struggle, stretch myself, and make me uncomfortable in a good way.
It sounds simple and it is. But it’s the simple things applied daily that make the biggest difference and produce the greatest fruit. Doing the work day in and day out and sticking with it. Discipline, consistency, working smart and hard, and seeking challenge. That right there is a formula for getting farther in life that you ever thought possible. Don’t shy away from struggle instead you should go out and court it.
One More Thing That Makes This Entire Process Even More Effective
But there’s one more thing that I want to talk about that can make a huge difference in your development and process of ennoblement. Man was originally meant to live in tribes. This was a tight knit group of probably around 150 individuals with clear gender distinctions. The men had a role to be filled, as did the women. This is how man lived for the majority of his existence and it’s how we’re still wired. I bring this up because it plays into the next big aspect of developing and becoming all that you can be, the warrior poet.
And that is pressure from respected peers. In a tribe males would naturally compete for dominance. Sort of like how males do on a sports team or during boot camp. However, when done right, this was meant to make each man perform to the best of his ability. By having others hold him to a higher standard than he would hold himself and push him harder than he’d push himself, a man can become more through the pressures of the tribe or the honor group and the threat of shame.
When used correctly shame is a powerful and good tool. Shame was is bad, base and unworthy, honor what is good, noble, and worthy. Pretty simple but incredibly effective. A group of men, an honor group, that has standards that it enforces, that pushes you, and that you want to do good for because you respect its members its one of the best things that you can do for your development.
You don’t want to be completely consumed by the group, however when used in the proper and healthy way it can push you more than you’d otherwise be pushed and bring about development faster, farther, and higher than otherwise would occur. It requires pressure to turn coal into diamonds and you want to put yourself under pressure. One good way to do this is compete in a sport of your choosing.
Don’t underestimate the utility and need for pressure from a group of men that you respect. An accountability group, an honor group, a tribe. Whatever you want to call it, just a group that’ll hold you to a higher standard and help keep you from slipping. A group that uses honor and shame in the proper capacities and doesn’t misuse or misapply either. A group you respect and who’s discipline and word you’ll respect. You get the idea.
Narrow Is The Path…
As you can see most people will do whatever they can to avoid pain, suffering, struggle, discomfort, pressure, challenge, and the like as much as they can. And not just the bad kinds, which we should all rightly avoid as much as possible, but the good kinds as well. The good kinds that we should be looking to bring into our life as much as possible. Most people just aren’t going to do this, but by the very fact that you’re reading this you’re not most people. Don’t let that go to your head but it’s the truth all the same.
However there is still plenty of work to be done and steps to be taken on the path, the path that never really ends. Wide is the path that leads to destruction and narrow is the path that leads to life. Take the path less traveled, the one filled with challenge, struggle, and discomfort. And that’ll make all the difference. It’ll allow you to develop the traits to become truly noble, to become part of the nobility of the primal/cosmic order, to become the warrior poet.
Take the first step.
If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it.
-Charles Sledge
