It’s not too often you find an upside to a job that offers more than an occasional chance of getting dead. It tends to wear on you, it makes you second guess yourself, it can get you spun up over things that aren’t even a threat, because hey, anything could go wrong.
Me, I’ve almost died a bunch of times.
Fell off a cliff while loaded down with gear.
Almost got gunned down by a helicopter.
Thrown from a moving vehicle.
Falling toward the Earth while wrapped up in a parachute with another jumper.
Nearly chopped up by an out-of-control helicopter.
Came 6 inches from fast-roping into the ocean in front of an underway Navy ship.
…and that’s not even counting the people who were doing their level best to make me be not-alive anymore. It can get old, yes, but it offers a good lesson in focusing on the variables you can control.
I can check my gear, make sure I understand what I’m doing, make sure my teammates know what they’re doing. and go over emergency plans of action just in case, y’know, something goes wrong, like some joker with a machine gun tries to give you the swiss cheese treatment as you pass by on a boat at 3 in the morning.
But what you’ll find, as many Operators do, is that once you’ve done as much as you can and managed as many variables as you can get your head around, you come to grips with the idea that there’s a degree of slack in the universe that you’re just not going to be able to control, no matter how hard you sweat the load. Once you learn to let it go, you find yourself with a decisive advantage over those still hung up on maybe and what if. So for you and your team, hustle hard, keep your cards close, read the table, and place your bets carefully. When it’s time to show your cards, let your hard work do the talking for you, leave worrying to the suckers.
Quote of the Day
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
Henry Ford
