Warriors

I found this picture on Pinterest:

Credit: Link from Io9.com

And it makes me strong. When I am having a difficult day, I imagine that I look like this: Armor-clad, beautiful, scarred, but still strong, still fighting.

I read old stories with new vision now that I am older, seeing in them the struggle of putting one foot in front of the other. Frodo, for example. As a child, I was always disappointed that he couldn't get over his wounds from the war and the role he played in it. The others were all able to move on with their lives. But not Frodo. He still felt old twinges of pain in his chest from his Weathertop wound. He still struggled around the anniversary of that same wound. He was changed forever.

But that didn't happen all in a rush. It happened as he put one foot in front of the other on his way to Mordor. It happened when the Fellowship broke into pieces and his friends were snatched from him. It happened as his body began to fail him, yet onward he trudged until Sam had to carry him because he was too weak to go on.

So it is with warriors.

They don't become warriors in an instant; it happens over time, small event after small choice after tiny cut. But warriors are warriors because they keep going. They get up when others would simply die; they move their foot forward when their mind is screaming that they couldn't possibly take another step; they keep fighting in spite of the uneven odds.

This picture reminds me of the beauty in what warriors of all kinds lose - but also in what they gain.

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Who is your favorite warrior (real or imaginary)?