The Warrior -- Carlos Casteneda

[John Dicus]

The warrior thread has faded, but I came across this definition of a
warrior by Carlos Casteneda in my collection of verse and poetry.  There is
much more to being a true warrior than waging war -- including the courage
to choose other options when appropriate.


All of us, whether or not we are warriors,
have a cubic centimeter of chance
that pops out in front of our eyes
from time to time.

The difference between an average
man and a warrior is that the
warrior is aware of this,

and one of his tasks is to be alert,
deliberately waiting, so that when
his cubic centimeter pops out

he has the necessary speed,
the prowess, to pick it up.

    (Carlos Casteneda)


I believe we're losing access to many good words these days because of the
images we conjure up relating to extreme characteristics.  We're afraid to
use warrior, leader, manager, authority, teacher, hero, and so on.
Probably because of the abuses sometimes associated with authority,
leadership, etc.  One beauty of OS is that we can find shared meaning
without rejecting words that still have value.


On a slightly different note, I found it interesting that there was so much
conversation about whether a conversation was over, should be moved, or
needed further time.  What's so bad about practicing OS as we talk about
OS?  Move on.  Delete.  Don't read a message.  Begin a new topic.  The
choices are many.  What could be better than to practice a process while
talking about a process and it's applications?  A thread will be over when
it's over.

Someone mentioned the sustained conversation catalyzed by 09/11.  That was
neat.  It's not easy for a large group to remain engaged in civil dialogue.
 It's a good experience.

All for now,

Thanks to all.

John

--
John Dicus  |  CornerStone Consulting Associates
- Leadership - Systems Thinking - Teamwork - Open Space - Electric Maze -
2761 Stiegler Road, Valley City, OH 44280
800-773-8017  |  330-725-2728 (2729 fax)
mailto:jdicus at ourfuture.com  |  http://www.ourfuture.com

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