In war, there are combatants and non-combatants.
Combatants are in the fight, and they carry the burden that comes with it. They accept the risk. They are the man (or woman) in the arena.
Non-combatants are not legitimate targets. They are protected by law and custom because civilization depends on the idea that not everyone is part of the fight. Children, the elderly, the wounded, medical personnel, clergy, and civilians are not supposed to be treated as enemies simply because they exist on the battlefield.
But the war of life is not governed by the law of war.
And at some point, you have to decide whether to remain a spectator or become a combatant.
There comes a point when sitting on the sidelines equates to surrender. There is a point when the desire for neutrality becomes fear. And eventually you have to realize that the life you claim to want won’t be won for you by the combatants.
You have to join the fight.
History is full of people who were not born soldiers but became combatants because the moment required it.
During World War II, the French Resistance included ordinary men and women who carried messages, gathered intelligence, hid fugitives, printed underground newspapers, sabotaged rail lines, and helped Allied forces.
These were civilians who looked around and realized that occupation had made neutrality impossible.
In Denmark, ordinary citizens helped ferry nearly 8,000 Jewish neighbors to safety.
They became combatants because they reached a point where being a non-combatant was no longer morally acceptable.
Most of us will never be asked to join an underground resistance.
But you do have to choose sides in the war of life.
In the fight for your health, your family, your attention, your standards, your faith, your meaning, your integrity, and your discipline, you are either a combatant or a non-combatant.
You can sit on the sidelines and comment. You can complain about your body while refusing to train. You can criticize weak leadership while avoiding responsibility. You can talk about your values while tolerating behavior that violates them.
You can say the world is soft while choosing comfort when hardship arises. You can say you want a better life while living like a civilian in your own war.
The sad truth is that a lot of people want the benefits of victory without the obligations of combat. They want confidence without competence, respect without standards, purpose without sacrifice, and transformation without discomfort. They want the identity of a warrior and the lifestyle of a spectator.
Life does not work that way. At some point, you have to pick up a weapon and decide to fight.
Your weapon might be your calendar, your notebook, a barbell, a rucksack, a decision you have waited too long to make, a standard you have never enforced, or the truth you have been hiding from.
The combatant is defined by commitment. He stops waiting to be rescued. He stops outsourcing responsibility. He stops pretending that he is unaware of what’s happening around him. He joins the fight.
The non-combatant watches the battle and explains what should have happened. The combatant makes something happen.
The non-combatant provides commentary. The combatant carries responsibility.
The non-combatant waits for the perfect plan. The combatant moves with the best plan available and adjusts as he goes.
The non-combatant asks, “Why doesn’t somebody do something?” The combatant asks, “What is mine to do?”
Answering that question turns you into a combatant. “What is mine to do?”
Not “What is everyone else failing to do?” Or “What should the government do?” Or “What should my boss do?” Or “What should my spouse, my parents, my kids, my friends, my coworkers, or my enemies do?”
What is mine to do?
When you ask that question, answer, and execute, you become a combatant. You become dangerous. Dangerous to the soft, passive, domesticated version of yourself that wants comfort more than meaning.
There is a time to wait. But that time has passed.
Now is the time for war.
You just need to be willing to fight. Willing to train, to sacrifice, to lead, to be uncomfortable, to take a step into the unknown, the fog of war.
Become a combatant for what is good, true, necessary, and yours to defend. Your health. Your family. Your standards. Your purpose. Your people. Your soul.
Life is war because everything worth having and keeping has to be won and defended.
Until next week, Charlie Mike!
John - Your arms dealer for the war of life
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