Protectors (Star Trek Voyager)

by Kirsten Beyer

“You are, inarguably, one of the finest officers who has ever worn the uniform. You eat the impossible for breakfast. You seek out challenges most would never contemplate, holding yourself to ridiculously idealistic standards, and you do it with a ready smile, keen wit, formidable intelligence, and a compassionate heart. You are a bloody beacon in the darkness, an inspiration to anyone dedicating their lives to Starfleet. To a man, those who have served with you in the past would walk naked through fire for you, but right now, I wouldn’t follow you to the mess hall.” “I see,” Janeway said, placing her hands on the back of the chair opposite the counselor.

“The Klingons begin each day with a saying: ‘Today is a good day to die.’ I’ve certainly found myself meditating on those words in some of my darkest moments. But what occurs to me now is that they are not meant to teach us to covet death or to glorify it. The truth they reveal is that every day must be lived to its absolute fullest. We must move through every moment of every day certain that the choices we are making are those we would want others to remember us by. The Klingons are not calling to the warriors within us to seek out death. They are calling us to live every moment of every day as our best selves, so that should death arrive unbidden, we may face it without regret.

‘Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.’ ”

“Just remember, regrets are powerful, but they are also lousy companions. That’s a truth waiting for you on the other side of middle age.”

Where love was given, power was granted.

“Ask for forgiveness rather than permission?” she asked. “Exactly,” he replied. “Proceed as if all you want has already been granted to you. Become the solution they require. Don’t worry about doing what you’re told. Do what you must.”

“Accepting responsibility, absorbing all the pain of the consequences of our choices isn’t the same thing as acceptance,”

Once you get the hang of forgiveness, it becomes a habit. It isn’t what we lose that defines us. It’s what we refuse to release.”