I've been thinking a lot about one thing of late. Honor. For those of you who have known or do know me, you know how important of an attribute I feel this to be. Maybe even more than that. . . . . . It is a lot like faith which I often refer to as being the "cheapest, most valuable thing you can ever own."
But I am digressing, this is not something that is about religion, politics, beliefs, creeds, oaths or any of that. All those things can (and have) entered into the same arena as honor does at times. And I am sure as long as humans and animals (yes you read that right) exist, they will continue too.
So I was forced to take all those things out of the equation. And as you saw above since animals are IN the equation it makes it a little more "difficult" don't you agree? But bear with me. . . . . .this isn't about creationism or evolution. Or science or religion, just a quick reminder.
Now I was tasked with developing a better definition than the dictionary could provide for this thing I hold so dear. This "trait" that I aspire to have and that I seek out in people whom I love or want to love, or need to be loved by. I had to quantify it. I had to make it more of a reality to myself personally. I had to understand it. Read that last sentence again. What I meant to convey is that I wanted to really, really know it. Understand is a widely misused word. How many things do I or you or anyone for that matter, really understand? Even Einstein himself admitted a lack of understanding, true understanding on several occasions. . . .but I am blathering again. Sorry.
So I set out on this path and after a period of time, thought and experimenting I came up with this. It seems simple at first. Honor is what we hold dear enough to defend and how we approach it. . . . .Honor is what we hold dear enough to defend AND HOW we approach it. I don't mean to yell hear but the AND HOW is huge. I don't want you to miss that part. For the humans among you that is who looks back from the mirror. Honor. What we hold dear enough to defend and how we approach it. Can we look in the mirror if we take another path the rest of our lives?
Many men, women and yes even the animal kingdom have made and will always make split second decisions where honor is heavily weighed. In an instant. And they will make those decision without thinking because their "mind" if you will was already made up. Honor.
The animal, be it tiger or domestic dog will fight to the death for family, friend and pack. Nothing is out of bounds or off limits. Nothing. The animal only knows that part of it's brain and chemical makeup that somehow tell it "THIS is a threat to all of those things." And it reacts violently with everything it has until it dies or is killed. Notice how the AND HOW is coming into play now?
As humans we are taught a lot of things depending on our "cultural norms" as we like to call them in the politically correct western world. In other parts of the world it is called something else but the same idea exists. You raise the future generations to uphold the past beliefs etc. etc. so the water gets a little muddy here but let's try and stay focused on the topic OK? OK. Moving right along then. . .
The next thing that I became interested in, and began to question was different cultures "evolution" or ideas about or whatever you want to call it regarding what we (Americans) refer to as "Honor". Now the ones of you reading this who are smarter than myself (which I already know is the majority of you) are really starting to see where the AND, and the HOW above started to blow my little biker pea brain…….
Was it a Tongin warrior who still clings to tribal beliefs and would kill in this day and age to protect what they hold dear? How about an Aboriginal who even though they know the convenience, healthcare and education of a modern world, but shun it at all costs to uphold tradition? Or the Japanese kamikaze pilot philosophy? I could of course go on and on but you get my point . . . . if you don't we'll have to discuss it elsewhere. This damn thing is long enough already!
My answer surprised me to no end. And it is only "my" answer. Feel free to disagree with me. Feel free to call or write and we'll discuss it. If you know me, which obviously you do or you wouldn't be reading this (assuming you are still. . . .it is too long, but everything I write is. . .LOL).
My answer lead me to one conclusion about honor. . . . .That we could all probably learn a lot from the native people of India.
You may think China is doing great things these days. And at first glance you'd be right. . . . you may think they will be a (if not the) superpower in the world very soon. And I would also agree with you there. I think they will also fall much, much sooner than they rose because of one simple (and very complex) ideal and how they choose to approach it and train the future generations to approach it.
Honor. What you hold dear enough to defend and how you choose to approach it.
This Thanksgiving season I am thankful for our warriors in many parts of the world who are in adverse conditions defending what freedoms we still have. People who do what they do are men and women of honor, holding dear to what they have chose to defend.