Tag Archives: preparation

The Hero

To be strong and to endure when the time comes, you must train your body. Like steel, you must temper it and remove the impurities.

To perceive the environment and to act accordingly, you must train your mind. Grow in intelligence and knowledge. Grow through experience.

To be able to move forward when those around you are paralyzed with fear, you must train your heart. Your soul. Become accustomed doing uncomfortable things.

Discipline. Wisdom. Courage. Training in these virtues is a selfish pursuit. It is purely to make you better. It is to prepare you for the hard times. To be the hero when the world (or your family or community) is in need of one.

When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness. –Joseph Campbell

The transformation may begin selfish, but it becomes charity. It becomes love. Acting for those who need a helping hand. Acting for those who are unable to act for themselves. You can be untrained and still step up in the dark moment, but will you be as effective?

We plant in the spring, grow in the summer, and gather in the fall. Why? To prepare for the harshness of the winter. In the same manner we should plant the seeds of virtue and cultivate them when the times are easy. For we will need them when the dark days arrive. The world will need its heroes. Be ready when the call comes.

The hero prepares, not selfishly, but to give.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. –John 15:13

AAR – Spartan Races & Medical Emergencies

Temperance 12/3/2019

After Action Review: Spartan Races and Medical Emergencies

Spartan Races

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, I ran my first Spartan Sprint. I didn’t know fully what I was getting into, and I didn’t have the best training leading up to the race. The day before, it rained for fourteen hours. Come race day, it was cold, windy, and muddy (ankle to knee deep mud).

As a team competing for the first time, we decided we were going to do this together. No man left behind. To go about four miles, it took us two hours. We were cold, exhausted, and smiling from ear to ear. Over the next few days, we were already planning our next race.

I went home after the race, cleaned up, and started moving furniture. After about two months, we were finally going to start living in our new house. By the time Sunday night rolled around, I couldn’t move a muscle.

Lessons learned after my first Spartan Race:

  • Get in better specific shape. I was not in my best physical shape. My training was off, and the training I did do was not tailored to obstacle course racing. My next race is planned for April 2020. In order to perform at an optimal level, I need to plan accordingly and then execute the plan.
  • Have the right gear. The night before is not the time to start planning what to wear. And when it comes to these types of races, I am now a big fan of “less is more,” regardless of the weather conditions.
  • Bring a full change of clothes. I live ten minutes away from this event, yet my drive home was miserable. I didn’t have a full change of clothes, and I was covered in a 2-3 inch layer of caked on mud.

Medical Emergencies

I took the next Monday off from work. I was dog tired and still had a bit to do before we could live in our house. My morning was casual, until I became a first responder to a medical emergency. Typically, we think of first responders as those who arrive on the scene in a professional capacity (i.e. EMTs, paramedics, police, and firefighters). But if you are in an emergency situation and have the ability to provide assistance in any way, YOU are the first responder.

The first thing I did was call 911. I then assisted the victim to ensure no further damage would take place. Later, as the trained professionals arrived, I helped pick up the stretcher and carry it up the stairs.

Lessons learned from this emergency:

  • I could have been more clear-headed on the phone. I was starting to panic and it was evident in my voice. I mixed up the last two numbers of the house address which cost an additional couple of minutes.
  • Over twenty years ago, I took a Combat Life Saver class. I have a rudimentary knowledge of what to do when your battle buddy’s guts get spilled out.* The only practical uses of the class back then was how to treat a hangover with an IV. Twenty years is a long time, and my medical skills are nearly non-existent. If I want to be any use to those I love, or even to those that just need help, I need to get trained. Proficiency in the basics is better than nothing.

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Miguel Cervantes said, “To be prepared is half the victory.”  When I think about my performance in the Spartan Race or in dealing with a medical crisis, I was definitely not prepared. And even though both those instances happened just last week, they are both in the past. There is nothing I can do to change what happened. But there are things I can change. I can learn my lessons and be better equipped for the future.

If you would not have a man flinch when the crisis comes, train him before it comes. –Seneca

 

*Not a lot you can do here. Lay him down and pile them back up on top of him and tell him to wait for help. Like I said, rudimentary knowledge.

 

Make Your Own Luck

Faith 10/25/2019

Monday night my wife was shopping for rain boots. She said she has always wanted a good pair but never remembers to buy them. It was supposed to rain all day on Tuesday, and she was dreading the idea of being out all day without a good pair of boots.

Her story reminded me of a similar ordeal I went through. Where we live, we usually get a good snow once or twice a year. For several years, I would remember that I need to get a snow shovel after it had already snowed. I would brood over this as I shoveled snow with my little transfer shovel. And then last year, I said enough is enough and ordered a new shovel. Sadly, it hasn’t snowed since. But that’s okay, I am now prepared for when it does.

Sometimes we see people as being lucky. They were in the right place at the right time or just prepared when the time was right. What we usually don’t see is what came before the luck. We fail to see the planning and the work involved to make things happen. We fail to see the lack of procrastination to get things done when they were supposed to get done. When it comes to our success in our personal and business lives, it is not luck that moves us forward. It is our preparation.

I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity. –Oprah Winfrey