Navy Seal Life Lesson

Remember how I mentioned reading the book The Lone Survivor?

My quick summary:
The story of a man who wanted to be a navy seal his whole life, made it as a navy seal, and then endured a horrible mission where he was the lone survivor.

Read the book. I thought it was great, but almost hope somebody as positive as this guy portrayed himself to be does not exist. It seems inhuman. I am jealous and feel lazy.

I did not realize how insane the training/qualification is for a navy seal. Beyond what you can imagine. Anyways, while the guy is in training, a Captain Joe Maguire gives some excellent advice to the trainees.

“I do not want you to give in to the pressure of the moment. When you’re hurting bad, just hang in there. Finish the day. Then, if you’re still feeling bad, think about it long and hard before you decide to quit. Second, take it one day at a time. One evolution at a time.

Don’t let your thoughts run away with you, don’t start planning to bail out because you’re worried about the future and how much you can take. Don’t look ahead to pain. Just get through the day, and there’s a wonderful career ahead of you.”

Such a good life lesson! When I am running and having a hard time, I want to quit when I think about how much more I have to run even though I am just fine for the moment.

At 3:00 AM when Wyatt is upset and won't sleep, I panic because I think of how tired I will be tomorrow, how I won't be able to work, how long the day will feel. At 3:00 AM I feel fine ( although frustrated).

The stress of worrying about the future is greater than the stress of the actual problem.

We are flying to Texas this weekend to see the family. I will be sure to remind the lucky people that sit next to Wyatt that they should focus on the now and not the remaining 2.5 hours of the flight.

He is usually a great flier/traveller but I fear this trip now that he is a walker. He does not like to sit still!