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The Quest as Your Personal Story The concept of living one's life as a quest is central to the understanding of Chivalry-Now. The 12 Trusts, the Deeper Concepts, the commitment to a virtuous life that we call Knighthood, all revolve around the dynamics of the quest and the principles it generates. Living life as a quest is a process of development through which we purposefully learn and grow from life itself, and make a positive difference in the lives of others. Everyday events, both good and bad, provide learning opportunities when we see them as such. The choices they challenge us to make not only reflect who we are, our principles and values, they bring to life what we believe. The idea of a quest encourages us to make purposeful choices to bring out the best of who we are - our inner heroes, for lack of a better term. The goal of this process is to develop our lives, not only for ourselves, but for the greater good. To understand this, it helps to think of your life as a story - different, yet similar to the archetypal stories that come down to us as edifying myth. All stories, including our own, progress from a beginning to a middle to an end. The beginning introduces the main character (us) and sets the stage and initial direction that the quest will take. Parents, siblings, teachers - our entire environment, contribute to that. In a sense, we are merely determined products of our environment. As time goes on, nature prods us toward a desire for independence. The question is, will we respond to it by actually learning to think for ourselves? We always have the choice of defying nature by not cultivating our budding independence. We can remain stagnant, a product shaped by the expectations of the marketplace, or parents, or friends, or whatever feels comfortably safe. The challenges acquired from learning experiences are not welcomed by those who prefer not to deal with them. The sole determinants of their lives become limited to work, bodily functions, numbing distractions and the processes of age. When they die, they leave behind nothing of distinction to account for their lives - and they consider that okay. As a story, no one cares to read it. Shakespeare once said that all the world is a stage. I would not put it like that exactly, but the theatrics are real and call upon us for capable and interesting performances. Comedy, tragedy, farce. History-based drama. Occasional moments that move the heart like poetry. It is all there for the taking in our daily lives, if we take live seriously enough to become personally heroic. While life comes with no script to recite, or outline to follow, Chivalry-Now offers a code to guide us on our quest. The 12 Trusts. If you seek a story with deeper meaning, we offer certain keys of insight called the Deeper Concepts. And the best
thing is, you respond to them on your own, with no director to push
you this way or that. The quest, which respects freedom, and gives
freedom its meaning, allows for you to be actor, director and producer,
all in one. |
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