The season change, along with the holidays are always exciting experiences for me as we draw closer to the new year. However, I've never been a fan of cold weather, especially since my stay at Ft Dix, New Jersey before my deployment. I was getting gas in my car one day this week, Monday I think it was, when I thought back to my time up there in that dreadful hole the Army calls a training facility. The temperature was in the teens as I stood outside my car waiting for the gas pump to shut off. With my hands in my coat pockets and my shoulders squeezed up to my neck like people do when they are standing in the cold I looked up at a flag pole that stood beside the building. Old Glory was waving fast in the bitter wind, and the rope was snapping against the metal pole sounding off like a bell ringing constantly. I thought back to the 4 am formations we had to endure in New Jersey. Every morning we stood there in the pitch dark, half awake, listening for our name to be called for role. With the snow and ice mix beneath our boots, we could hear the rope and the flag sounding off from the flag pole that was over 4 blocks away from our ears. The wind up there in Ft Dix, NJ is something of an amazing thing, it never stops blowing. Looking at that flag pole on Monday made me think about just how many hours we were forced to stand, sit, run, drive, sleep, eat and go #1 and #2 in the snow, ice and bitter cold up there. What better way to train for middle eastern conditions that to send us all up to New Jersey in the middle of winter. That picture above, by the way, is from our three month stay in the field. The picture says it all so I don't have too :) We had shower buildings 500ft from our tents that never worked. Our latrines were port ta potties or "The Bob" as we called them that were another 200 ft from our tents. Let me just say, that walk or slight jog at midnight to relieve yourself was just awesome! No not really. We had a chow tent, that took 10 minutes it seems to walk to every day. And of course, chow in the military isn't worth the effort, so most of us shammed out of having to go and just shoved down pogey bait from our tote boxes. I suppose the best aspect of being out there was our heating systems in the tents. A gas powered heating unit sat outside the tent, with a huge flexible duct that ran from it into the tent itself. The heat was surprisingly nice, and considering we were in a tent, it stayed halfway pleasant in there at night when we finished training. All except when the fuel ran out, and we woke up to 0 degree temps at 4 in the morning. Awesome.The pump shut off, I returned the nozzle, secured the gas cap and got back into my car. I had purposefully stayed outside my car to experience the cold and stare at the flag pole. The short trip down memory lane was a nice little day dream getaway from the dreads of Monday morning. I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment that I had made myself uncomfortable that morning by standing outside my car instead of waiting inside the car. If I hadn't, then I wouldn't have felt the bitter cold, looked up at the flag pole, resulting in thinking back to my time in New Jersey. Now that may sound weird to most of you but when you think about it, it's our comfort zones that keep us from so many great things. As horrible and crappy of an experience Ft Dix, NJ was, looking back I wouldn't have traded that for the world. As I was walking through that time in my life, I hated it. But whats funny is that as soon as we left the field, and packed our bags for Iraq, we were all proud that we had survived it. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I don't know who coined that phrase, but there couldn't be any more truth to it. My self image sky rocketed after those harsh months in the field. I was "in the trenches" so to speak with my brothers in uniform enduring some of the worst conditions we all had ever gone through. We were all better men because of it, and had a sense of pride that no one could penetrate. SO.... I say all that to say this. To really grow and succeed in life, we have to kill our comfort zone on a regular basis. A daily basis if you ask me. If you have a dream, and you're pursuing that dream at whatever pace, then killing your comfort zone is a necessary habit to form. It's through struggle and overcoming fear that we become better individuals. Through that process we grow substantially and have better things to offer the ones around us. Whatever the endeavor is, stepping outside your comfort zone will bring a higher level of play to your game. So many of us are distracted by the tangibles of life and because of that we miss valuable opportunities. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to stand up on my soap box and preach to anyone. I'm just as guilty as the next guy of allowing myself to be distracted. Laser light focus is difficult to achieve, especially as all of our lives are extremely different, with different circumstances. However it is possible and very attainable. It takes practice, but once the habit is created it becomes second nature, and somewhat of a challenge that you become addicted to. If there is a dream that anyone is pursuing, then your comfort zone, and the time you spend in it is one of your worst enemies.
We can find numerous examples of this from a biblical standpoint. David, who stood up and faced Goliath when no one else would. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who told Nebuchadnezzar they wouldn't worship his golden image even after they were told they were to be thrown into a fiery furnace if they didn't. Jehoshaphat and the strength it took to seek God's counsel and lift up a prayer of thanksgiving... after the bad news that multitudes of warriors were at the door against him in battle. There are several more I could mention, but the theme here is that none of these decisions were comfortable to make. Comfortable, would have been to stay safe back in the rear instead of facing a giant in one on one combat. It would have been comfortable to just bow down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar commanded be idolized. Comfortable would have been to seek someone else out for leadership and counsel when the sound of battle horns are at your door. To pass the buck onto someone else for the hard decisions. If you read these accounts in the Word, not only did they stand apart and make the uncomfortable choices, but afterwards they were better men because of it and were blessed abundantly.
So, this was what has been ringing in my mind this week after that trip down ol' memory lane Monday morning at the gas pump. Inspiring myself, from a military memory to step outside of my comfort zone on a daily basis and grow. So until next time, stay classy NWA.
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