Recognizing a Warrior....

BUMPIN' UP

Fell into Barbara Walter's interview with this guy ...
I am linking to a blog that I think has the most comprehensive video clips of the actual interview.
I always liked the guy, but now I really really LIKE LIKE the guy. He's in THE knock-down, drag out fight for his life and he's not afraid to show the good, the bad and the (F)ugly ... all presented with a good dose of a very wry sense of humor.

Two comments he made that 'got me':

"One thing I'm not gonna do is chase staying alive, You spend so much time chasing staying alive, you won't live."

"nobody on the set ever saw me whine, moan like a girly-loser-man. I would do an attitude adjustment every morning."

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K left a comment when I posted this originally that ended with:
"It is inspiring to see a fighter.I can relate to his never give up attitude, I think you can too!"

My first response to her comment was:
Well, Hell, SH#T, YES!!!!

There's are a lot more layers though as to why I was so 'grabbed' by this interview. I thought about it for most of yesterday, and then again this morning. I don't have time to go into it all in great detail now, but I want to leave you with this:

The fighter/warrior part of his soul spoke to mine. All of us carry that warrior part inside of us, it's part of human nature. But you don't know HOW and IF it's gonna come out until life throws you a major curve ball. And then some become the quiet, "everthing is going just honkey dory, it'll all work out" types that will keep putting up that 'brave face', that keep projecing that 'all is just peaches ' vibe, that will not openly and publicly admit to the uncomfortable and painful bits.

Others become the "I know my changes of winning this fight are NOT good. But, Hell, I'm not going to become a statistic. I'm gonna declare WAR on this thing. And I'm gonna go to battle and give it all I've got." These folks are also frequently the 'I have no reason to pretend it's all just peaches. Being in this situation just absolutely 150% totally SUCKS. I don't know if I'm gonna win this war, but I'm gonna try and I'm gonna turn this thing around for me, one 'bleeping' battle at a time."

And that is the vibe I very much got from Mr. Swayze's interview. The warrior was very strongly present - and this warrior has absolutely no reason to put up a brave face, to keep all messy feelings neatly wrapped up, to keep that interview all 'fluff', to answer 'all Pollyanna' to some of the more direct questions. He gave it all, straight up. No pretense, no mask, no pretty words.

It was a tremendously positive interview, don't get me wrong. But it was a positivity born from battle, from having gone down into the bowels of hell, from knowing that you're gonna have to go down into the bowels of hell many more times, and from knowing that you're gonna make that journey into hell as many times as it's gonna take.

And yes, I so 'get that'....