The Warrior Spirit

Recently I joined an online class on the subject of Pagan warrior spirituality. As the first assignment is an essay on what being a warrior means to each individual, I'd thought I'd plaster mine up here.
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What is a warrior, or better, what makes a warrior? It seems to me that a warrior is defined by two things – conflict and sacrifice. Anything else seems off to me in a sense.

A warrior accepts not only the necessity of and responsibility for conflict, but also it’s inevitability. But I should define terms first. In the sense I am speaking of conflict is any confrontation that has the potential to cause lasting harm. The obvious example is physical conflict, combat, whether lethal or not, but this definition can go further to include spiritual and mental harm. After all, I have a hard time believing that someone who risks their life and sanity in an exorcism or other spiritual battle is somehow not every bit the warrior as the soldier on the battlefield can be. Due to the definition I use of conflict, a diplomat, negotiator, or “web warrior” is not necessarily a warrior, although they can be. A warrior then is one that accepts that conflict is sometimes the only way to resolve a situation or protect what he cares about. A warrior does not flee from necessary conflict, but rather embraces it as his calling and purpose. As a result of this, a warrior takes responsibility for conflict – for initiating it or ending it as necessary and for being prepared for it at all times. A true warrior does not seek conflict lightly or without purpose, as any conflict he is involved in is his personal responsibility, his duty to himself and those or that which he cares about. To seek conflict lightly then puts the warrior and moreover his responsibility at unnecessary risk, and has the potential to reduce his capability to undertake necessary conflict. This emphasis on personal responsibility is very important, as it creates an important distinction – a warrior can be a soldier, but a soldier is not necessarily a warrior. Lastly, a warrior knows in his deepest heart that conflict is inevitable. It can be avoided or put off in many cases, but sooner or later a threat will emerge to those or that which the warrior cares about that cannot be avoided, and then the warrior must fight.

Sacrifice is the second element that defines a warrior. In order to simply be a warrior, much must be sacrificed. A warrior sacrifices the luxuries of complacency, unpreparedness, and pacifism. A warrior sacrifices the luxury of letting someone else take responsibility for protecting the things he cares about, and the luxury of fleeing from necessary conflict. On a further level, a warrior sacrifices the luxuries of happiness, of peace, even of life itself, should these sacrifices be necessary to do his job. A warrior then is one who holds the line to protect what is important to him regardless of the personal cost. He understands that his personal needs are secondary to the needs of the job, and in accepting this makes that sacrifice small or extreme as it may be.

What then is a Pagan warrior? What can he or she be but one who feels called to this life of service, to a sacred duty to do whatever is prudent and necessary to protect that which he or she loves? A Pagan warrior then would seem by necessity to understand that his or her contributions will be minor in the greater scheme of things, constrained by the need for restraint, and go largely unsung by a fractious and unorganized community. A Pagan warrior is then one that understands and accepts all of these things, and then chooses the life of the warrior anyway.