An ex-army grunt put together a list of stupid things he either did personally or witnessed while in the service. It’s probably funny if you weren’t in the military, but it’s histerical if you were - especially if you were infantry. I think those of us in the infantry had to deal with so much monotony that it compels you to do stupid shit.
You can find his list here.
There’s a ton of ones I can relate from my experience. Among others:
“Must not, as Platoon Sgt, pine for how nice it would be to have a platoon bitch. From among your soldiers.”
It’s always a tough task to look at ourselves objectively. The fact is, we spend a lot of our waking lives doing what we can to not examine ourselves too much. It can be a depressing exercise and, if we feel helpless to evoke changes we feel are necessary, can appear pointless.
I’m of the opinion that being able to look at ourselves objectively crosses one more hurdle of mental toughness. It’s easy to look away. The willingness to come to terms with where you are in life, in any relative sense, shows courage. Most often, it will leave us with more questions than answers about where we’re going with life.
We can apply the five words to any aspect of our lives. It doesn’t matter how trivial the topic is to someone else. If it’s important to you, it’s worth scrutiny. And five words is not a requirement. It’s the process of self-examination that has value. You’ll likely find yourself moving in broadening spirals, covering topics further from where you started. And the urge to give up the exercise will be immense.
But, before you pause the reflection, don’t forget to do the most important part.
Decide how you feel about where you are.
This post probably won’t make me very popular, but it’s essentially a boiled-down version of my perspective. I make no claims of originality. Originality is another argument. (more…)