I will start by saying warriorship, in its nature, is not a job you could make a living doing. Nor is it very practical. Battling evil and all that. Warriorship is more of a lifestyle, an outlook at life, perhaps you might call it a perspective. Therefor I will start with the romanticized and to some part stereotypical view, still not untrue in any way.
The Warrior defers from the Soldier. The Soldier fights for his country, for his lord or whoever hired him. He makes war and kills people on the other side, the Bad Guys. The Warrior on the other hand fights for life. He chooses his battles himself, has no lord who tells him what to do. Killing someone without a choice is a disgrace to him, when he does it it is a failure for him.
"Mother Earth is Mother Earth, she's not divided." The warrior is of no country. Essentially he fights to make the world a better place. He protects life. If doing this will cost him his life, he will not hesitate to do so. Putting what is best for the world before his own personal safety.
Memento mori: Remember dying.
He lives in the now and cherishes every moment of life knowing it can end anytime. (Think about it. This is your life. Some day it will end, it might even happen tomorrow. So don't spend the now living tomorrow.)
He knows that all life is worth saving. He does not struggle or fight his way through life, but rather moves fluidly, flowing, focused, ever present in the moment here and now. You might think homeless, very poor or handicapped people have little to live for. Well, try taking a knife and stab them and you'll see how little they want to live. Their life is not worth less to them than yours is to you.
Of course, that's a romanticized view, but it is still kind of a core of what the warrior strives for. An important part is treating everyone, no matter if he is better or worse in your view, with the same respect. And you have to face it, you becoming a warrior won't save the world. You are just a tiny tiny part of the universe. You have to know this or you are on the wrong track. But just because you can't save the world doesn't mean you should contribute to making the world worse, throwing gas on the fire. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are - Theodor Roosevelt
Remember that.
The first step towards change is being conscious about the need for it. And as Gandhi said:
We must be the change we wish to see in the world.
A lot of people are calling themselves warriors, talking the talk and not walking the walk. Pardon the cliché. They will theorize a lot about warriorship, but when it comes to actually living as one, and when it comes to facing the real world, they are quite useless. All warriors have probably at some time been there, been that person. You have to develop beyond it. Are you hardcore?
Investigating it with a lot of talk Is not like holding to the center -Tao Te Ching
In a world that will not be the way you want it to be, in your lifetime anyway, you have to keep going. Never ever give up Live a life worthy of a man, of a Warrior. There are some times you have to back off also, you do not hold the answer to all the problems, you cannot face everything alone and you have to be able to know that and sit back and be patient sometimes.
Try to sit down. Look around you, wherever you're at. What do you see? Try to look beyond good and bad, look beyond labels and names. See the True Nature of things. Let go of your own prejudice. For instance, what is it you're looking at right now, reading this? Is it a computer screen? No, that is just a name, you are looking at a chunk of plastic and metal and glass wired together in a clever way in a design by some smart guy. Those beautiful living things in that vase, what are they? Flowers? But that is to short a name. The True Nature of those flowers cannot be described, they have to be experienced, lived. Ultimately, are they not just extensions of yourself, a part of the living force and the universe just as you are? Seeing beyond labels is perhaps one of the most important things for a warrior. There's a part in the book 'The Two Towers' by JRR Tolkien. Treebeard the Ent, oldest of all the living creatures beneath the sun can't recall a certain word. The two Hobbits with him re freshens his memory: "Hill. Yes, that was it. But it is a hasty word for a thing that has stood here ever since this part of the world was shaped."
And if you know me, you have to know that I just had to bring in the Warrior Creed also. Credit for it goes to the late Robert L Humphrey (Iwo Jima Marine), 1923-1997.
The Warrior Creed
Wherever I go, everyone is a little bit safer because I am there.
Wherever I am, anyone in need has a friend.
Whenever I return home, everyone is happy I am there.
Try to take these words to heart.
The concept warrior is not a static thing, everything evolves and so does the warrior.
Warriorship is not a thing to be merely theorized about, it is not only in your head. It should not be static in your mind but living in your heart. Pursuing your goals, live your principles.
Anar Kaluva Tielyanna.