(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Developing "Warrior Heart" for facing climate change. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-20 In late February of 2022, the people of Ukraine were facing a monumental task of impossible scale. The Russian army was attacking the entire country and was on the doorstep of the capital. Chances were bleak and most outside observers thought a protracted guerrilla campaign after conquest was the best case scenario. From the perspective of this 40-something American, these were the ultimate bad guys. The Russian descendants of the Soviet legends from Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising or the force that could take half of the United States in a surprise airborne assault in Red Dawn had attacked. They were assaulting a poor country a third of Russia’s size. I can imagine there were plenty of people in Ukraine who thought their world was ending. And for some, it did. Or rather they were killed. Or loved ones were killed, homes shattered, atrocities endured forever changing the trajectory of their lives. Many outsiders expected the Ukrainians to surrender in the face of such power and destruction. But they didn’t. All over the country individuals held their ground and fought. Many fought without hope of winning. Without hope of seeing their loved ones again. Their leader didn’t flee, but went out into the streets with a rifle, ready to fight alongside everyone else. This is the essence of the “Warrior’s heart”. It is not the violence of a thug, or the cruelty of a maniac. The Warrior’s Heart is the steely determination to take the next step towards the right cause. And then take the next step. It’s the frame of mind where one fights on in a place beyond hope or despair. The warrior fights because they are needed to fight. It’s a fight to win, but ready to give everything for the sake of those who come after. And should the worst come and none survive, then they die knowing they did not despair, but fought until the last. And then, the world went on. It was changed, but most of Ukraine was still there; standing and fighting. We still don’t know how the story ends (spoiler alert, they kick Russia’s ass this summer). But it won’t be won in one grand stroke. One action does not win the war. Thousands upon thousands must stand up and each take one action at a time. Each little action is insignificant. One shovel full of dirt is meaningless. But five shovels is enough for a foot to fit inside. A hundred shovels might be enough to hide in. Thousands of shovels full of dirt becomes first a foxhole, and eventually a trench line. A war is won by so many people each taking individually almost meaningless tasks but in their composite become an unstoppable force. The war is not won by Zelenskyy getting on top of a tank and leading a Tolkien style charge into a horde of Russians until he meets Putin at the gates of Moscow and slays him. It’s won because thousands of people do one more task when they are so exhausted they could barely do the last. They go on because the alternative is to cease to exist. Now everyone in Ukraine does not have a Warrior’s heart. They are people akin to all peoples with the strengths and weaknesses in us all. They have had their treacheries, where individuals sold out their country. They have had those who despair waiting in the basements of Bakhmut for the Russians to arrive. And even those with the strongest of Warrior’s heart must rest at some point, or briefly succumb to some minor weakness after unceasing toil. All too often in our discussions about Climate Change talk changes to that of grief or despair. Or perhaps like me, you thought others had this under control while you focused elsewhere. Or maybe the path forward is so incomprehensible there’s no sense of even which way is the path forward. So we tune out. But our struggle to mitigate climate change can not be ignored. At least I can ignore it no longer as I see my 2 year old happily playing. And my bright eyed 8 year old asks hard questions I can’t always answer or even worse, I have such horrible answers I can not yet bring myself to fully tell him about it all. Despair is not an option for me. I don’t have the time for climate grief. I understand many of you feel one or both. But as tired as I am tonight, as much as I would have preferred to read a book, watch a movie, or play a video game, I had to take a step. Tonight that step is to write this article. It’s just a single shovel full of dirt. Who knows, maybe half the dirt falls off mid movement. But it’s the way for me to move forward. If I can provide something of value through my writing, even to just one person, then it was worth it. But more importantly I do it without knowing the outcome. Perhaps this writing gets lost in the mix, a server failure, or it’s simply not good enough. Perhaps I will be ridiculed. So be it. I no longer have a choice if I wish to face what comes down the road. I don’t know where and when my own end will come, nor do I know if my shovels of dirt will make a difference, but I will at least have done something. If we all do absolutely nothing then we are assured of a bad end. And maybe even if we all turn on a dime our complete course change will not be enough. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that in order to have a chance to succeed we must take the millions upon billions of little actions to win this war. I can only do my own shovels full of dirt. I cannot do everyone’s else's. I am no magical savior. I can not slay a story book villain to set us all free, and neither can you. But if enough of us take on the Warrior’s Heart we have a chance. Go ahead and take it on. It doesn’t hurt. You have the capacity. It’s not a trait some have but not others. It’s a simple decision to just take that one more step towards mitigating climate change. Then take the next step, and the step after that. And keep taking those steps. Not all of us will see the end of this journey. But perhaps in the journey we each have for ourselves, we can be that small force of positive change which will build that better future. It’s not impossible. We can even have fun on the way. Look at all of those Ukrainian soldiers dancing, spending time with pets, and sharing time with loved ones. We simply have to choose the Warrior’s Heart and it is ours. 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