Three forces govern a man: his mind, his body, his soul. His body can be molded by iron, his mind can be sharpened by words from men long past, but his soul is dependent solely on his own willpower. His soul rules his character, it is the basis of his morality that he exercises in his life. The dependence of the soul on the man makes it the most vulnerable, requiring a vigilant and watchful eye against anything and anyone that would seek it harm. Once a soul has been corrupted, it takes the strength of a god to cleanse it and restore harmony.

For men who have just begun to find their own way, two obstacles lie in their path: anger and sadness. The anger comes from the lie you have been fed, from the realization of the amount of time you have spent on everything else expect your own goals. This anger, in its early stages, is formless and wild. It cannot be tamed and is as paralyzing and destructive as the chains that bound him. Once a man has tamed the beast that is his anger, he can harness its raw energy and direct it and shape it into something that can help create his visions and destroy his obstacles. This anger must be tempered within his soul because its natural state is that formless, wild beast that took the great effort to tame. Every man must find his own way of taming it, be it iron, creation, travel, or otherwise. A man must know to tame it, because the world depends on you not doing so. The wheels of civilization roll on the bones and blood of men who let their anger and frustrations lead them where they did not mean to go. Do not be lead by anger and hate, rather lead it where it can be useful. Unrestrained, it will poison a soul.

The far greater adversary to the soul is the sadness that comes after the anger. This despair at the state of the world and those you cannot save from suffering creates guilt and remorse. If anger poisons the soul, sadness kills it. You must tread carefully when confronting this deformed, ugly beast that distorts the beauty of the world into the most grotesque things it produces. Confronting this foe is the first step to conquering it, and so begins the winter of a man’s soul. As the daylight of youth and ignorance fades, he is left with the truths that have been laid bare before him, the path that led him to face sadness. The reality of these truths are cold and tearing down the false constructions he had will leave him defenseless against the onslaught of the frigid storm.

To survive the storm, do as nature instructed to animals: hibernate. He should surround himself with wholesome friends, if they are to be found, and entertainment. He can bury himself in pleasantries as the storm rages outside, and once it has calmed he can emerge and seek it out on a fair battlefield. Whatever form his beast takes, he must look at it objectively. He should remove his ego as best he can and face it squarely and bravely.

A man going his own way has many forms of sadness to conquer. Overcoming oneitis is a common form, as is accepting the vital truth of AWALT. After he has overcome his personal woes, he may begin to look to society at large and feel regret at the loss of opportunities or the disgrace brought to his ancestors, who fought and died only for women to tear it down in a few generations. He must separate his ego from himself and realize that there are more opportunities than ever for an independent man to achieve greatness and that his ancestors fought and died to grant him the right to appreciate their sacrifice in peace and solitude and to uphold their memory by being the best man he can be.