"Leaning back in my recliner each night, staring at the ceiling, I tried to settle myself. I told myself: Life is growth. You grow or you die."
-Phil Knight
Hey friend,
I graduated from the infantry school at Ft. Benning two decades ago. Next week, a dear friend’s son will do the same.
While our time there was likely very different, there are similarities. The pain, the push-ups, the heat, and the fire ants. It’s a place where the bathroom meant walking off into the woods with an entrenching tool (a small shovel). Toilet paper, well, maybe.
Over time, we remember the good and forget the bad. With twenty years since they made us run till we all puked, my memories are mostly fond. Like the Staff Sergeant, with a glint in his eye as he punished us when what he was saying was, “I believe in you. Keep going. This is all a show to help you find the man you can be.”
Or the weekend pass, you get near the end. Princess Buttercup and I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean. It was great. I slept the whole time, a skill I retain to this day. But holding her hand meant something different after so much suffering.
Most importantly, this time helped me grow. You grow when you don’t have a choice but to do the pushups, the ruck march, or the overhead arm claps. When big angry men yell at you, you aren’t afforded the luxury of choosing what you want to do or what to fear. You don’t get to ask yourself, “Can I do this?” It’s not a choice. You do. When you do, you grow. Abraham Maslow said,
"One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.“
In the profession of a soldier, growth is safety. The more you grow, the more capable you become. Capable of doing your part to accomplish the mission, keep your buddies alive, and get home for another movie with your princess buttercup. You get weaker when you choose not to go for that run, not do that push-up, or not put a few more pounds in your rucksack. These choices increase the chances that the mission fails or someone you love dies.
Here’s the kicker, all of this applies to you, too - soldier or not. This is our every day. I had the fortune to have your tax dollars pay for my growth. We signed up and took an oath that meant Constitution didn’t apply to us (no, really). They could essentially do whatever they liked.
You don’t have that luxury. You have to make these decisions on your own. You must decide whether to sleep in or step into the storm. Whether to walk into the blizzard or stay in your warm hut by the fire.
This is the best time to be alive, ever. Men and women before us made this possible. Their luxuries have become our necessities. You don’t have to walk into the woods with a shovel to do your business. The indoor bathroom that was a luxury is now a necessity—and while you’re there, the wifi works, even at 35K feet.
Humans that chose to do hard things made this possible. Each of us has a choice today - grow or not grow. This choice is not for you but for your community. Your community at home, work, and the society that will exist after you’re gone.
People have worked A$$’s off to make this life comfortable for us. We have a responsibility to continue the momentum.
Consider your choices:
Step into the storm and grow
Stay by the warm fire and slowly die
Understand: That cozy fire is where potential goes to die. Not just your potential but the potential of our communities and society. We are all counting on you to help make things better every day, not just for you and me but for two generations from now, just like someone did it for us.
The Storm