Jedi's thoughts

By: Koren Jey

Size matters not. It is not the completion of the task that is the true goal, but the doing of it. Do, or do not. There is no try. How you act is how you prove yourself. You do not try and walk, you do it. Put this logic into everything. Commitment and a serious mind are commendable, but these are nothing if you do not believe you can do all this. Do not focus on the future, or on idle pleasures while you are training, or you will fail. Anger and recklessness CAN be tempered into calm and determination, it only takes patience not only on the part of the Master, but also of the student. Those that let themselves be swept along by the tide of emotion are swept along the Dark Path easily, but those that can guide these emotions, they are true Knights.

Don't think to yourself "I've failed" when something doesn't happen, no matter how hard you perform the feat. Think of it as a marker of your progress. You may not be able to do that feat, but think of the feats you CAN do, and let those achievements (and how you achieved them) guide how you approach your immediate problem. Those that quit are those whose patience is non-existent, whose determination is lacking. Don't quit, and don't cheat. Those that cheat walk along an ill-defined path in training. All too easily can the occasional "trick" become an ominous power of the Dark Side. You have been warned.

Your lightsaber is NOT primarily a weapon. It is an extension of your will. The Lightsaber is a symbol of your prowess in the Force, and what the title of Jedi means. The fact that the blade only extends in combat situations (at the Jedi's wish) should be a sign of how a Jedi should conduct himself/herself.

Don't ever boast of your powers, or skills. There will always be someone stronger, faster, more intelligent than you. Your gifts, whatever they may be, are sacred and irreplaceable. Identify these gifts, work on them, and you WILL have something others don't. It's like some people have a favorite combat move (in video games or in real life). They may know loads of stuff, but they'll always have one or two moves that they know INSIDE OUT, and know EXACTLY how and when to use them best. Work on that (and I don't mean JUST fighting moves, apply it to other things. Things as abstract as the art of arguing for example, which is a national past time in these Forums. If you can get a few things in your head with which you can annihilate another's speech, a few phrases, or insults, then you'll find that, using the right evidence, you'll be able to hold conversations a lot more easily because you'll have the confidence to take control of it and steer it in directions YOU want to go.).

Confidence is the key. However, there is a difference between having a lot of confidence, and having a large ego. We all have egos, they may be small, they may be large, they sometimes may be not big enough. Yoda had enough humility to act as a crazy fool on Luke's arrival, but he still KNEW he was a Jedi Master. He didn't have to prove it to anybody before Luke. Confidence, if it gets hurt, can be regained through hard work and determination. Ego, if it takes a blow, can be very hard to get back to the same level. That's why we can't afford to have large egos, it takes too much of a knocking if you let it. Any Jedi with too big an ego (Light or Grey) must be deflated slightly for their own sake. They'll get over it, but I'd rather see that than that Jedi losing out to a Dark Jedi because their ego wouldn't let them say "No". I know I've written a lot, but all of this is relevant to this now very real fight we have to keep Light students at this Praxeum. Read please (including the Dark Jedi).

--Grey Jedi Koren Jey

Brought to you by: Jedi Walker & the Force

Copyright © Jedi of the New Millenium.

Last revised: August 08, 1999