“I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England, too; and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which, rather than any dishonor should grow by me, I myself will take up arms.”
The moment of the Spanish Armada is one of those critical historical events that we historians note as a shift. A before and after. They might not have known it in 1588, but the world changed forever at that point, both geopolitically and within England itself. And Elizabeth’s rule was vital at that time, to lead the nation into this brand new world.
You and I probably won’t ever lead a nation like she did, but we do find these same moments in our own lives. And, like Elizabeth, you won’t necessarily know it was that big till AFTER, maybe even long after, the event is over. So, you don’t get to pick and choose when to have this type of courage. Thus, the point is that today is the time to start having the force of will in your person to stand as she did. To be willing to say that even if I feel weak or tired, that in order to achieve the goals I want, I will even myself “take up arms.” No, I don’t mean grab a physical weapon, but rather metaphorically “wage war” against your own laziness, against your natural desires to relent, and against anything, any habit or scenario, that would come between you and your dreams.