We rear defiant heads as children, testing the waters of reprisal and punishment from parents and teachers.

We live and breathe defiance in our teenage angst, questioning everyone and everything to the Nth degree.

But then we reel it in. We slow down. We largely stop defying, and instead passively melt into life-circumstances that victimize our days and years with blatant disregard for our simple wishes of tranquility and earnest joy.

Defiance is but one option.

But perhaps, just perhaps, your human spirit — the brilliant, unbridled stallion confined within your skin that longs to break free — needs our defiance to survive.

To unleash your potential, to thrive, to live from within most truly and invoke your spirit’s truest life-purpose… perhaps defiance is an utter necessity.

The spirit that defies is that which remains strongest, most intact and healthily unshakable. The comfort of conformity dictates a methodical pace toward the grave. Idle minds tell us that things “are” because they “ought to be” this way. Our heart wonders, why?

What, today, does your heart question?

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The word “Renegade” is derived from the medieval Latin word renegatus — the perfect participle of renego, meaning “deny.”

Here on DaveUrsillo.com, “Renegadeism” is an unwaveringly positive and defiant attitude embodied by ordinary men and women across the globe who consider themselves to be distinctively different than the masses: we who are “dreamers” and “believers,” who strive to be achievers of a bigger goal — of a significant purpose.

We dreamers who brandish the name “Renegade” live, defy, believe and thrive in what we love to do, in spite of the an increasingly cynical world that surrounds us. As Renegades, we deny convention for the sake of convention, deny mounting cynicism, and deny disbelief.

Under the name of  “Renegades” we brandish a determined and resolute mindset through which we individually engage in Self-Exploration, striving to explore who we truly are on the inside; better ourselves through intellectual growth and emotional exploration; become Self-Aware, realizing and coming to trust our constitution, unique gifts and talents; and develop ourselves to be the best men and women that we can be, for the sake of everyone around us. Renegadeism is about “believing” in defiance of naysayers and developing the Self on behalf of others. It’s really that simple.

Renegadeism Begins with Self-Exploration

Human potential is uniquely unlimited. There is no restraint on what creativity, imagination or love we may summon and possess. Within ourselves, we have an insurmountable potential to dream, believe and achieve–simply because we are human. What resides within us is all that we need to achieve anything we put our minds to. Historically-brilliant men and women–from Sun Tzu to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Benjamin Franklin, E.E. Cummings, Marcus Aurelius and the fourteenth Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso–have long espoused the merit and honest value of understanding the Individual and developing confidence and trust in one’s Self as an important starting point for the betterment of others.

We, the Renegades, willfully engage in the dedicated practice of Self-Exploration, or the examination and analysis of our unrealized spiritual and intellectual capacities–the unlimited potential that we each individually possess. Renegades place explicit focus and attention upon developing the individual Self as a starting point for bigger and better things. Through introspective exploration, we come to better understand our behaviors, our motivations, our personalities, our relationships, and our lives. In other words, we become “self-aware.”

Self-Awareness leads to Self-Reliance

Self-awareness is gaining and developing a new level of consciousness and an ongoing understanding of our personal traits, behaviors, abilities, talents, gifts and potential in life. By becoming better aware of who we are on the inside, Renegades forge a new sense of knowledge and understanding of the Self. Self-awareness lessens our natural tendencies to be insecure and self-conscious, because we understand our emotions and the motivations for our behaviors every day. Understanding one’s sense of Self and being less insecure ultimately reveals a new world of confidence and peace of mind; once achieved, a Renegade builds his or her own self-reliant temple, against which there is no cynicism, disbelief, or naysayer that can shake the dreamer and believer from achieving whatever he or she desires.

Achieving this level of confidence and peace of mind, we become self-reliant: our motivations come from deep within our hearts and souls. We realize that our actions, thoughts and behaviors are inherently pure and good for they stem from deep within our spirit. When our motivations come from within, we ultimately have little to ever regret. We are free to make mistakes and contradict ourselves, to learn and grow, because we are motivated by our hearts and souls and what is within us.

Join the Ranks of the Renegades

Renegadeism begins with the choice of conscious self-exploration. Through the realization of our unlimited potential, we become self-aware. Through self-awareness and better understanding our gifts, strengths, abilities, passions and unique human potential; we gain a level of self-reliance, an unwavering source of motivation and trust that resides deeply within us and upon which any dream or goal can be achieved.

What it means to be a Renegade is as limitless as our human potential. Renegadeism is an open philosophy, not confined or restrained by traditional laws, conventional rules or strict limitations. Renegadeism is open to evolution and constant refinement with YOUR input, thoughts, and contributions. Renegadeism will evolve, change, and strengthen as men and women like you join the Ranks of the Renegades and share your opinions and ideas with me and especially with one another.

Today, to believe, it’s as if you have to be a Renegade. Are you among our Ranks?

Step 1) Follow me and the Ranks of the Renegades list on Twitter to connect with fellow Renegades

Step 2) Connect with our community on the DaveUrsillo.com / Ranks of the Renegades Facebook Page

Step 3) Blog, Tweet, Facebook and share your own Renegadeist efforts with fellow Renegades, friends, family, and strangers alike. Keep me and fellow Renegades in touch with what you’re working on, ideas you’re developing and what it means Renegadeism means to you.

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Before we can overcome the challenges that lie before us, we must first survive the circumstances that preclude us from flight. Even for those who struggle to overcome and simply cannot, to endure is truly noble.

Striving to overcome the hurdles and difficulties of everyday life in order to follow one’s dreams and stay true to one’s heart is an amazing feat and sets an admirable example that is worthy emulation.

However, for those who fight and struggle just to survive — those who, though encumbered by circumstance, dream still — the feat of their endurance is truly noble, humbling, and awe-inspiring. After all, in order to reach a level in our lives where we can truly thrive, first, we must survive.

Heroes who Strive to Simply Survive

Many of the self help and personal excellence pieces I offer here on DaveUrsillo.com espouse the merit and value of pursuing one’s dreams in spite of the challenges that impede them; the merit of following one’s heart in spite of when logic tells us not to or whatever the status quo dictates; and the advantages of utilizing one’s passions as great asset to our individual development.

I not only enjoy writing different self help and personal excellence pieces — which, I hope, can serve my readers and visitors with some motivation and inspiration every day — but I often need to read them myself in order to maximize my motivation during those days and weeks when the strenuous process of striving to attain your dreams feels particularly more difficult, arduous and occasionally aimless.

That said, I sometimes neglect the merit and courage of those who struggle and sacrifice just to make ends meet; who, in spite of all that they sacrifice, never stop dreaming. For that reason, I wish to address the nobility and courage of these unspoken heroes.

To Endure is Truly Noble

Striving to overcome for the sake of our dreams and life goals is beautiful and admirable. But there are many men and women who, in spite of all of their efforts, simply cannot overcome: enduring is a courageous feat, itself. These men and women are life’s soldiers. Although they struggle to merely survive, they endure still, if only in hopes that their struggles and sacrifices will allow a better set of circumstances for their children who follow them, and perhaps allow them to pursue their sincerest dreams and goals in life.

We dreamers who have been given the opportunities and advantages to sincerely help others must take these lessons to heart. After all, no one can really thrive if they cannot make ends meet and simply survive, first. Survival is always the first step. The act of enduring is what helps facilitates our ability to strive and overcome any array of circumstances in our lives that prohibits us from taking flight and soaring onward to horizons of which that we dream.

In this life, whether we are endeavoring to thrive in life or simply struggling to survive, to endure is truly noble. And for those who endure, the final victory will surely be achieved; whether it is the victory that we had set out to win or not.

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