***I’m back! Did ya miss me? I missed my writings but after our vacay, it’s time for more stories!
Protecting your character can imply so many meanings. It all depends on your perspective. With this title, Warrior mentioned how important it was for him to do just that~~ protect his Ultimate Warrior character. What I believe it meant in his context was not compromising so much that the character’s integrity gets undervalued. When someone wanted to “take liberties with your character,” you had to remember your own values. It got down to “the business of the business” meaning that each character stays true to his core.
I could relate to this story as well told by Warrior on the Ultimate Collection DVD. When my book Spirit and Belief came out, the approach was somewhat different than it is today. My values are the same but the attitude has shifted just a little. At first I was super protective as those stories in that book belong to us both- me and Warrior. No way was I gonna just let anyone who didn’t truly “get it” involved.
It was after all like a baby I just birthed and not all were allowed to “hold it.” The writing was easy, marketing not so much. I could never form the words right when describing it to anyone foreign to him, wrestling, or spirituality.
I think deep down my Belief was that the book could survive online on its own without me. It can but that’s like sending a baby bird out of the nest before it’s fully ready. Had to use a bird reference if you know some of my writings about them in the past. BTW– we have baby robins growing bigger in a nest this summer!! Now, I am much more comfortable speaking about our stories while still protecting them. No, they aren’t for everybody but nobody will know either unless I help it to fly.
Do you protect your character when needed? I am big on principles just like Warrior ( I still will refer to him in the present) but compromises are needed too. I don’t mean a character like on T.V. but your true self. Do you cave on important issues just to please others? You shouldn’t. Yes, it’s easier but it’ll affect you numerous ways with guilt showing up.
When we take on certain roles in life, protecting that character can be challenging. We sometimes will say : “I didn’t sign up for this!” Maybe even: “It’s not in my contract!” I certainly didn’t compromise when it came to a former boss asking staff to do personal errands. Professional ones, yeah but when we didn’t have enough kids– I’d work in the office. I would never run a personal errand unless I’m the boss’s assistant which none of us teachers were.
From politics to religion, ( which I’ll never discuss) parenting, careers, or all in betweens, protecting your character and values needs to stand for something. There are countless decisions we make but conforming or not needs to be decided only by you. Anything you create is yours so are you protecting it or not? Nobody else will. Take pride in your craft, share how you want, but always protect. Make it work for you as a balance of not too tight but not too loose either.
Pro athletes or really anyone that performs has their own character that might start out a certain way but then evolves into so much more for an audience to see. You’d protect what’s important to you right? They do too even though we might not ever know “behind closed doors.” We all start out with help but it’s on you to make your OWN character thrive.
When the Ultimate Warrior battled Andre the Giant , protecting characters were considered for sure. I mean nobody was bigger than Andre– literally and figuratively. The Warrior character was still a novice at the time but never wavered from his convictions. Andre helped the U.W. character as only a legend could. Integrity and protection remained on both sides. This is how it should be but in reality, it doesn’t always work that way.
The level of how we protect what’s ours may differ but the core shouldn’t break. Bend a little maybe but not break. Keep your character protected and strong however that looks to you. It is after all~~ inside of you to do so.
P.S. I recently wanted some champagne just for fun and found one labeled “Andre.” Had to get it since Warrior would always buy Andre his favorite wine out of respect for protecting the character of Ultimate Warrior. 🍷🤼♀️💪🏻🥂
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