From a very tender age there was a war within me. There was always something that could be better. There was always something left unappreciated that I wanted to congratulate. However when you are young there is not much you can do without support. Thus, I fought with myself. But I always made sure that the fight wasn’t detrimental to my future.

We all need a war to fight. It is human nature. Even when searching for peace in a world that is ruled by greed, you are fighting a war. Making sure that you raise a decent human being in a corrupt world is a war. Anything that requires your effort and takes up your energy is a war. There is no such thing as being either a lover or a fighter, because it is love that drives us to fight in the first place. You either love and fight for the world or you are fighting with yourself.  But as humans we cannot do both, as we have a limited amount of energy.

In our youth we mostly fight with ourselves, but as we get older we learn about the person we are and the person we want to be. If we take the time to learn about ourselves by accepting and changing our faults along the way we see how we can benefit the world around us. But if all of your energy is spent on fighting with yourself, then the opportunity may never rise, or it may walk past you while you are too busy bickering with your subconscious to even notice.

As adults we no longer look for friends. Friends we already have enough of. We look for allies. We look for soldiers to fight in a unit without a general. We look for likeminded individuals who are there to support us while they too do what they can to aid in your war.

Unfortunately, insecurity can cause others to be ungrateful and take over and there will be times when before you know it your unit has an ulterior motive that distracts you from your own battles. And much like the wars that are fought by our countries, our own wars begin with a purpose you can stand behind and sometimes lead to a personal gain you were unaware off.

Those who choose to lead a team that does not ask for a leader often use the excuse that they were put on this earth to lead while the rest are here to follow. And much like my lover and fighter argument, believing that you are either a leader or a follower is a misconception that devalues you as a human being. Whether you consider yourself a follower or a leader in your life, you are leading. Even when you follow, you are leading because following is what you have chosen to do at that particular moment. There is nothing stronger than being able to step down from your personal throne to allow someone else to let their light shine through. There is nothing stronger than calculatedly taking a step down so that someone else can have the light shone on them just enough so that they can look up and notice they’ve been wearing a crown the entire time. There is nothing stronger than grace.

With all of the chains society and others put on us we still have a choice in our thought. In our minds we can choose to be free.  Living in a first world country gives me the privilege to choose my battles. If you have the privilege to choose your battles, choose to fight for the world, not your ego.