The flaw with words is that they always make us feel enlightened, but when we turn around to face the world they always fail us and we end up facing the world as we always have, without enlightenment. For this reason, a warrior seeks to act rather than to talk, and to this effect, he gets a new description of the world – a new description where talking is not that important, and where new acts have new reflections. ~ Carlos Castaneda, The Wheel of Time

The short version of this quote is shut-up and walk your talk. Are you listening to all of the people who are saying that they are going to do things differently in order to help the environment, save the oceans, and become more sustainable? Are you aware of how many people talking with their friends about “going green” are only providing lip service? A warrior seeks to take action and through unbending intent accomplishes her feat.

Remember Iron Eyes Cody, the crying Indian from the 1971 television commercial and ad about pollution. That’s almost 40 years ago. The message was put out there and some people took action but the sad truth is here we are, almost 40 years later and the entire planet is in imminent danger. We can’t afford to go on like this for another 40 years, it will be catastrophic.

Have you seen the bumper sticker “If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention”? The question for a warrior is how to hold the anger in a proactive way or to even swap out words: “If you’re not taking action, you’re not paying attention”. To take action, mostly silent action, and to not get upset with people who choose not to. The warrior is the catalyst and provides the ultimate shift in awareness through action. The others follow. If everyone talks about the “shift” then others will follow their lead by talking about the shift. If everyone becomes the ultimate shift through action then others will follow by becoming the ultimate shift through taking action. Interesting behavior and sheeple mentality but most people are followers; that’s how it is.

There are so many amazing quotes from Castaneda’s works that could be used here to drive home the point but instead of quoting them my recommendation is to just read them. Then you can decide which of them works best for you.

An inefficient virus kills its host. A clever virus stays with it. ~ James Lovelock