“Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan! My brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the Age of Men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand!”
It's an epic scene—one that takes my breath away, even though I’ve seen it a million times.
Aragorn has finally (reluctantly) taken his rightful place as king and leader after years of hiding in the shadows and helping others as a lone ranger.
Frodo and Sam are struggling up the side of Mordor, determined to destroy the ring of power but slow and stumbling under the burden of exhaustion and evil.
Middle Earth is all but lost, and all that stands between it and its doom is a reluctant leader, a few thousand tired and terrified soldiers, and the ideal that keeps their feet planted and their swords in the air.
Sound familiar?
It's been quite the week, hasn’t it? One of those “you can’t make this st*ry up” kinda weeks.
I mean, what are the chances? Aaron and I started this book more than two years ago and tried to launch it in April, and that didn’t work out. When we finally had the opportunity to choose a new date, we thought the Friday before Independence Day would be apropos since the subtitle of our book is “a powerful way to cultivate character and preserve freedom in our children and culture.” But we couldn’t have guessed that the country would be up in arms over a Supreme Court decision that was announced only a week before.
Whatever you believe about abortion and the Roe v Wade decision—I’m not asking or assuming, and my request is that you don’t either because it’s not the point here—the one thing people on both sides are defending is freedom.
Some are defending the freedom to choose what happens to our own bodies; others are defending the freedom of the unborn.
No matter what side you are on,
what we all share is the innate need and desire for,
and the right to freedom.
what we all share is the innate need and desire for,
and the right to freedom.
There is a knowing deep within us that
we are designed for personal sovereignty,
but there is plenty of evidence that it has its limits—
one being the same sovereignty of others
and
our other primal need to belong to each other.
we are designed for personal sovereignty,
but there is plenty of evidence that it has its limits—
one being the same sovereignty of others
and
our other primal need to belong to each other.
Our differences are in the details.
But whatever we believe about the moment life begins, or whether the federal or state governments should have the final say, it’s difficult to preserve our brand of freedom if we struggle to:
- stay grounded, focused, and humane while navigating high amounts of Uncertainty
- leverage our superpowers and/or keep our kryptonite from undermining our intention
- maintain curiosity and critically think through every angle of the topic, just to make sure our thoughts and beliefs are our own
- work effectively alongside allies to further our cause and manage the inevitable conflicts ahead with boundaries and grace
- recognize true villains, and believe in and work toward personal and collective redemption
- understand and collaborate with destiny and its limits
- be the type of leader that maybe we’ve never seen before
Why do we struggle with these?
My experience as a human, and a guide,
has proven to me that it’s hard to stay the course
and change the world outside of us
if we haven’t addressed the unconscious wars
that go on inside of us.
has proven to me that it’s hard to stay the course
and change the world outside of us
if we haven’t addressed the unconscious wars
that go on inside of us.
When our beliefs about Camaraderie
don’t jive with our Self-knowledge…
we face our toughest moments without a Sam Wise.
don’t jive with our Self-knowledge…
we face our toughest moments without a Sam Wise.
When our beliefs about Redemption
run into opposing beliefs around Destiny…
we give up right before the Wizard and Allies arrive.
run into opposing beliefs around Destiny…
we give up right before the Wizard and Allies arrive.
When our beliefs about Training are at war
with our beliefs around Leadership…
we fail to bow to the real heroes and cultivate resentment.
with our beliefs around Leadership…
we fail to bow to the real heroes and cultivate resentment.
Self-sabotage and
undermining of the mission
are inevitable.
In other words, it’s near-impossible to establish and maintain freedom outside of us if we cannot create it within.
And how do we do that?
Well, here at True To Intention, we use the power of Writing and Story to uncover the unconscious wars and right our internal world… so we can become the leaders who can right The World.We start our next Write to Right the World Quest Monday, July 4, 2022.
That’s tomorrow!
I know it’s a holiday. If you can’t dive in on Monday, your first prompt and your new allies will be waiting for you on Tuesday. 🙂
And if you send me your receipt for 5 copies of our book, you can join us for free.