I have spent my life fixing things. My whole reality is built around what to do in different situations. This is broke (do this), this is making this sound (do that), or this is causing that… “Yep, I know this, let’s fix it.”
After the Gulf War, I was finished with aircraft support, I had to move on. I just went the 12 rounds, achieved what I trained for, there was not anything left for me. So, I went to recruiting and asked, “What’s open?” All the same old things were listed until I saw the W’s – Weather, Weather Forecaster. Seriously?
My classmates and I spent 5 days a week, 9 hours a day in classes for 10 months. Training in physics, mathematical formulas and models upon models. Then, I spent another 3 months in follow-on training. Everything was about memorization and absorbing: in this situation, this happens because this force acts this away; when this happens, that changes this element, and now the factors are different. (Gonzales, 116) On and on, mental models after mental models. We had to know 1,000’s of models and become experts in situational awareness for any environment anywhere around the world. I was programmed to view everything in models, and I carried this on into my life after the military. I am prone to look for situations that I was familiar with and gravitate to those environments.
In Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why, Laurence Gonzales recommends that we need to become aware of our situation, he says on page 78, “… the most successful is open to the changing nature of their environment. They are curious to know what’s up.” Then he sticks the knife into it on the next page, “Some people update their models better than others. They are called survivors.”
While thinking about how experiences shape our reality, I wondered: isn't wisdom, experience plus knowledge?
Then this last Monday, my view of everything was changed again...
I started out the morning in contemplative prayer and then moved into my daily Spiritual Exercise. My exercises are based on a book by Kevin O’Brien called The Ignatian Adventure. It is not a book for spiritual enlightenment; instead, this is spiritual balance with focus, lessens to listen and a selective activity for the day. I was on Week #2, day 7 and this “Day” has stuck with me the whole week, like the movie Groundhog Day, it keeps repeating. I could not move on. I mean come on, how hard is it to “Practice being astonished” (O’Brien 2011, 47). Astonished means “greatly surprised or impressed; amazed.” Yeah, this should not be that hard... Unless, you are also reading, Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why at the same time.
Gonzales wrote with his young daughter their “Rules of Life.” The first rule started with: Be here now (Gonzales, 121). Then Gonzales explains the difference which determines, “Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why” and his suggestions: “first staying out of trouble, then for dealing with it when it comes.” (Gonzales, 263)
After reading this book and looking at information compiled in the Appendix, I am considering including these into my Rules of Life:
Works Referenced:
Gonzales, Laurence. Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why: True Stories of Miraculous Endurance and Sudden Death. New York: W.W. Norton, 2017.
Lawrence, Brother. The Practice of the Presence of God: The Best Rule of Holy Life. LONDON: THE EPWORTH PRESS, 1691.
O’Brien, Kevin F. The Ignatian Adventure: Experiencing the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius in Daily Life. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2011.
Murray, Bill, Groundhog Day, Directed by Harold Ramis, Columbia Pictures: February 12, 1993.
[1] Mr. Barnes is our 87-yr. old praying Elder; that’s all he wants to do is pray – he is our Brother Lawrence
After the Gulf War, I was finished with aircraft support, I had to move on. I just went the 12 rounds, achieved what I trained for, there was not anything left for me. So, I went to recruiting and asked, “What’s open?” All the same old things were listed until I saw the W’s – Weather, Weather Forecaster. Seriously?
My classmates and I spent 5 days a week, 9 hours a day in classes for 10 months. Training in physics, mathematical formulas and models upon models. Then, I spent another 3 months in follow-on training. Everything was about memorization and absorbing: in this situation, this happens because this force acts this away; when this happens, that changes this element, and now the factors are different. (Gonzales, 116) On and on, mental models after mental models. We had to know 1,000’s of models and become experts in situational awareness for any environment anywhere around the world. I was programmed to view everything in models, and I carried this on into my life after the military. I am prone to look for situations that I was familiar with and gravitate to those environments.
In Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why, Laurence Gonzales recommends that we need to become aware of our situation, he says on page 78, “… the most successful is open to the changing nature of their environment. They are curious to know what’s up.” Then he sticks the knife into it on the next page, “Some people update their models better than others. They are called survivors.”
While thinking about how experiences shape our reality, I wondered: isn't wisdom, experience plus knowledge?
Then this last Monday, my view of everything was changed again...
I started out the morning in contemplative prayer and then moved into my daily Spiritual Exercise. My exercises are based on a book by Kevin O’Brien called The Ignatian Adventure. It is not a book for spiritual enlightenment; instead, this is spiritual balance with focus, lessens to listen and a selective activity for the day. I was on Week #2, day 7 and this “Day” has stuck with me the whole week, like the movie Groundhog Day, it keeps repeating. I could not move on. I mean come on, how hard is it to “Practice being astonished” (O’Brien 2011, 47). Astonished means “greatly surprised or impressed; amazed.” Yeah, this should not be that hard... Unless, you are also reading, Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why at the same time.
Gonzales wrote with his young daughter their “Rules of Life.” The first rule started with: Be here now (Gonzales, 121). Then Gonzales explains the difference which determines, “Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why” and his suggestions: “first staying out of trouble, then for dealing with it when it comes.” (Gonzales, 263)
After reading this book and looking at information compiled in the Appendix, I am considering including these into my Rules of Life:
- perceive, believe, then act
- avoid impulsive behavior; don’t hurry.
- stay calm: use humor and keep calm, use fear to focus
- celebrate your successes, take joy in completing tasks
- count your blessings and see the beauty
Works Referenced:
Gonzales, Laurence. Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why: True Stories of Miraculous Endurance and Sudden Death. New York: W.W. Norton, 2017.
Lawrence, Brother. The Practice of the Presence of God: The Best Rule of Holy Life. LONDON: THE EPWORTH PRESS, 1691.
O’Brien, Kevin F. The Ignatian Adventure: Experiencing the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius in Daily Life. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2011.
Murray, Bill, Groundhog Day, Directed by Harold Ramis, Columbia Pictures: February 12, 1993.
[1] Mr. Barnes is our 87-yr. old praying Elder; that’s all he wants to do is pray – he is our Brother Lawrence
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