Hello my fellow Ready Warriors! This month we are taking a break from our usual Newsletter fodder to bring to you a guest contribution from my friend, Dan Millman. I chose this piece because of its power. It appears in Dan's book "No Ordinary Moments" and I feel it has the potential to be one of the most important things you will ever read if you are prepared to really hear these words. I have no doubt that if you lived your life by the words expressed below you would know peace, harmony and joy no matter what challenge life places before your path. I also highly recommend this book to anyone in my circle of Ready Warriors! These words that follow were given to Dan by his mentor, Socrates. And now, Mr. Dan Millman:

One night, Socrates did two uncharacteristic things; first, he handed me a pen and some paper and told me to take notes; second, without further explanation, he spoke for as long as I'd ever heard him speak at one time.

"You find yourself here, in the midst of an experiment in human evolution," he began. "What you set in motion now, in your personal life, as a part of the body of humanity, will have farther-reaching consequences than you can possibly imagine. We humans are still children, playing with forces larger than ourselves. But we are growing up fast.

"The challenge and the opportunity of this moment in history are only beginning to dawn on us. We are just waking up.

"You will be tempted again and again to fall back to sleep, to fall back into your personal dilemmas, and in that tunnel vision, to lose sight of the bigger picture. You will find yourself reading water in a sea of concerns, with only moments of peace and flashes of happiness to interrupt the parade of problems.

"But is that what life is about? Are we merely here to spend our lives treading water? Or is there something else? "In order to find the answer, you need to take a realistic and compassionate look at yourself and your situation. See your own part in it, your responsibility, and your power of choice within the larger context.

"We all know that life has ups and downs; you've experienced both. And though you can't always control what happens outside you, you can choose how you will respond. You can treat life as a dance rather than a wrestling match. You can become an active participant rather than a victim of circumstance.

"There are times to let things happen, and times to make things happen. Now is that time. You will either make things happen, watch what happens, or wonder what happened.

"Do you want to live as a peaceful warrior, or a soap opera star? Choose now what you will do and who you will be. The choices you make today sow the seeds for the future.

"Do you have the courage for it? Do you have the love" If you have enough of one, you will develop the other.

"But if you fall asleep, you miss the show! If you lose sight of the bigger picture, you may also lose your sense of humor and become fearful or frustrated.

"If you choose the warrior's way, the challenges of life remain; they may even intensify. And, yet, everything changes: You begin to recognize this world as a training ground, a school for souls. We are all humans in training.

"Whatever life hands you, tackle it. Handle what is in front of you. Do whatever you have to in spite of fear or insecurity or doubt. Don't wait to feel motivated! Life rarely lays out a red carpet between you and your goals; more often it's a swamp. But remember that your stumbling blocks can become stepping-stones.

"Someday, at the moment of death, your whole life will pass before you. IN a few fractions of a second - because time no longer applies - you will see many incidents from your life in order to learn. You will review your life with two questions, in your consciousness: could I have shown a little more courage in these moments? Could I have shown a little more love? You will see whether you let fear stop you from expressing who you are, how you feel, or what you need. You will see whether you were able to expand into these moments, or just a little and show love, or whether you contracted.

"Don't wait until you die to learn the warrior's way. Do it now, each night, just before you drift off to sleep. As you review your day, consider these two questions of courage and love. Learn from each day, so that each day you can show a little more courage and a little more love. Then, as incidents occur, you may rise to the occasions and look back at the end of your life and feel good about the way you have lived.

"You are not here to grow up and go to school and work and make money and marry and raise children and retire. These occupations only form the backdrop in the Theater of life. They provide the wrapping, but they are not the gift - only the means of your education - important aspects of life, but not the purpose of it, not the whole of it.

"Life develops what it demands. The issues you face are the spiritual weights you lift to strengthen yourself. Your task is to shine through the petty details of your life, not to get preoccupied with them. And when life puts hurdles in your pat, my friend, you had better become a hurdler.

"There may come a day when you begin to see beneath the surface of life, and read the meaning between the lines. There may come a day when you welcome the hurdles and will thank Spirit for everything that is given, whether you call it good or bad, easy or difficult. Your preferences will begin to drop away, and you will embrace what is.

"Your path will lead you over some lofty peaks and down into some dark forests. From each peak, you'll see the bigger picture and feel on top of the world and closer to God. Down in the shadows of the forest - your own shadows - you'll confront necessary challenges and discover the strength within you. So both the highs and lows are useful in their own ways.

"When you reach a peak, take advantage of that opportunity to see the higher nature of the world. Do not take it for granted or assume you'll be there forever, because if you fail to take advantage of the peak times, a doorway of opportunity closes; you'll have to wait until the next peak to see what you can see.

"Don't wait until next time. This lifetime, this moment, is an astonishing time in the history of the planet, an incredible time, still beyond your comprehension. Now is the time to prepare yourself - a time for courage and commitment.

"If you coast because it's comfortable and things are going well, you may one day look back and realize what you missed. At the end of your life, you will see the opportunities you had to stretch toward your potential but that you let go because things were easy and you could always to it later. Do it now - while you have the time for it, while you have the energy for it, while you are alive.

"Maybe you think you're too busy to grow into your higher self; maybe you're too bush just staying afloat. It's easy to let physical problems, relationships, money, and work monopolize your attention. You may think that you've got no time for happiness - that you have too many things to do - so the war rages on, and inner peace gets buried at the bottom of the "in box." So I ask you: What do you want to look back on?

"Right now, whether or not you are aware of it, a great battle is waging inside you. Fears and concerns distract you; doubt and insecurity urge you to sit this one out, to go back to sleep. They lull you with comfort and convenience; they weave false hopes and fairy tales. You will, at times, feel a strong temptation to crawl into a cocoon or put your head in the sand where it's quite.

"Why do I tell you this? Because you are still caught between waking and sleeping. Now is the time to wake up fully. This is the great time, the great battle. Don't b e caught unaware. Now is the time of the greatest work, the greatest challenge, and the greatest growth. The doorway has opened. Step through! Now, in this lifetime. Now is the time. Now.

"Where is your commitment? What do you want to look back on? Do you have the courage to explore who you are beyond your limiting beliefs? Are you willing to take responsibility for your habits and your fears, and then slash through them?

"You can change your life with a simple shift of attention. But to make that simple shift, you have to find your heart. It's the only way. Accept yourself, then transcend yourself. Make this great work the center of your life.

"Daily life is more than it seems. Use it! Find the courage and love to adapt to and live a happy life of loving-kindness - not because it will "get you somewhere," but because you understand the way of the peaceful warrior.

"I, and others like me, only serve as a bridge between you and the heart of the universe until the time comes when you no longer need any bridges - when you realize that you are the universe, you are the heart."

Socrates stopped as abruptly and he had begun. A light rain started pattering on the office window as I shoo out my hand from taking rapid notes and gathered the papers. I knew he had told me something important, but I didn't realize how I would share it, until now.

On my own adventures, I've found more to the world than meets the casual eye. I've come to appreciate the mystery and paradox - the humor and change. In closing, I offer you the same reminders I give to myself: Be gentle with yourself. Think less and feel more. Be as happy as you can. You only have this moment.

Thank you Dan! See you next month everyone...Rodger