I recently "read" four audio books by former Navy SEALs: No Easy Day and No Hero by Mark Owen, the pseudonym for one of the Navy SEALs who served in Operation Neptune Spear, the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. American Sniper by Chris Kyle, and Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. I've come to the conclusion that the word "respect" is not strong enough to capture what these men deserve from the rest of us, and feel like we need to create a new word that captures what they are owed for what they do for the American people.
In each of these books, each SEAL spends some time reflecting on his time in SEAL training, and in the case of Owen, the selection process for DEVGRU. One of the things that has really stood out to me is the mentality of each man. SEAL training sucks, a lot, and that's a huge understatement. For a while I wanted to be a SEAL, part of me still does, but the reality is I would have no chance at this point in my life. I've read several books by SEALs, and each one brings up some new feat they accomplished in training, or on a mission, and my mind is blown by what they do. Not only have I realized how tough it is, but also how tough these guys are.
Perhaps the most grueling part of SEAL training is Hell Week, and in each of these books the same mentality has been shared on how to make it through the week, "Just make it to the next meal." Each author says that during Hell Week you get fed every 6 hours, on the hour. You endure 6 hours of constant movement, soaking wet and covered in sand, all on a total of 3-4 hours of sleep for the whole week, but at the end of 6 hours you get a brief chance to eat, and the secret used by those who make it through is consistently to focus on just making it to the next meal. Understatement of the year, Hell Week sucks (and I haven't even been through it, the closest I've come was a 9 day SEAL wrestling camp at the Naval Academy more than a decade ago), but if those who endeavor to complete it were to focus on the total amount of suckage, it would be overwhelming, and much more difficult than it already is. By breaking the week down into six hour increments, the week is broken down into more manageable segments.
It's easy to look at life as one big overwhelming whole. It's easy to worry about every minor detail to the point where the stress is debilitating. Scaling it back, it's easy to look at one year, even one week, as a whole and just be beaten by the seemingly impossible amount of stuff that has to be done. I've found in my own life when I take that view, particularly with school, I end up procrastinating, and having a really hectic and stressful few days right before the deadline. I loath those days, but if I'm honest, I bring them on myself.
This past year flipped my life upside down. I'm now facing some big decisions about my future, that aren't really that far away. The thought of things I need to look into, people I need to reach out to, a thesis topic I need to begin working on (yes, two years before I'm planning on starting the program), the book I'm wanting to write, and all of the other day to day responsibilities, and my mind doesn't even know where to begin, and when that happens, I tend to simply sit and watch stupid videos on YouTube. The reality of life is so overwhelming that I give up on living it, and simply hope to get by based on giftedness and learning how to work within the system. I want to end this cycle as I move into the next year.
I'm not one to make new years resolutions, and this isn't going to be one, but I want to begin looking at life with a Hell Week mindset, just make it to the next meal. One internet research session at a time. One phone call/email at a time. One discussion board post/book critique/research paper/test at a time. One conversation at a time. One planning/dreaming/vision casting moment at a time. In between one thing and the next, everything can change, all of that is outside of my control. One phone call can close a door, which means I need to reevaluate, so I need to focus on simply getting through that phone call, and then going on afterwards. Just make it to the next meal. That's how SEALs are made; that's how life gets done.
Jesus said, in Matthew 6.25-34:
"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Don't worry about next week, just make it to the next meal.
James 4:13-15 says, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'"
Don't focus on a year from now, just make it to the next meal.
I'm not saying don't have a plan; I'm not saying don't dream. I'm saying focus on the journey, not the destination. The goal matters because it helps you stay focused, SEALs have the goal of becoming SEALs so they get through Hell Week, but the goal isn't the point. See my post called "The Journey" from August 5, 2017 ( href="http://proverbs1824brothers.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-journey-by-will.html"). In my own life, I want to begin to focus on just making it to the next meal. I don't want to focus on the stress of everything that lies a head, and procrastinate to the point where I hate what I'm doing. I don't want to plan for a future where something changes everything, and I'm devastated when I'm left with a bunch of shattered pieces.
Make it to the next meal, and go from there.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
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