The Sun Will Rise Again
One of my favorite quotes is from Galileo. “You cannot teach a (person) anything; you can only help (them) discover it for (themselves).” The lessons from life experiences are not learned in just the initial moments they are lived. Many times it takes additional experiences to correlate the lessons learned, to truly understand them. Those additional experiences may not occur for years, but they will occur at the time in your life when you really need them to.
I have previously written about my GoRuck Tough (GRT) experience in “The Great Con”. The GRT is not only a physical challenge but a mental and emotional challenge as well. To give you some idea of the intensity, it is led by a Cadre that is an active duty special forces operative on weekend leave. The challenge is a loose re-enactment of a special forces mission that happened in real life.
The challenge is 12 hours and takes place overnight, in what seems like the darkest of the dark hours. We were not allowed to have watches or cell phones, no way to tell time. We didn’t know what the challenges and exercises were going to be, only the Cadre knew that. The only thing we did know is that it would end in 12 hours (or so). All we had was our faith in ourselves and each other, and faith in the fact that the sun will rise again and this challenge will pass. The reward for our efforts, a velcro patch.
A central aspect of a GoRuck Tough is carrying weight. We have brick weights in our bags, we have a team weight, plus any additional weight that might be added throughout the event. The weight carries a lot of meaning. It is not only physical, it is symbolic of the mental and emotional weight that we may be carrying.
Around 5:30 in the morning, I wanted to quit. It was still very dark. We had stopped at a gas station for a restroom break. Normally we wouldn’t have stopped, we would have just used the trees, but we already had a run in with the law earlier that night for that exact same reason. I didn’t go in, but others did, and low and behold there was a clock. They came back and told me the sun was getting ready to come up and we were so close to completing the mission that I couldn’t give up. We pressed on.
My teammates had to pick up more and more of my slack as my body just gave out. As I continued to slowly break down and give up, a fellow GRT said something that I will never forget. He looked me dead in the eyes and said, “It’s ok that you need help, but understand we are all tired, and you are not the only one that wants to give up.” Initially, I felt like I was letting everyone down. I thought he was calling out my weakness. I soon realized he was calling out my strength. Somehow muscles that seemed to be worked past the point of exhaustion kept firing and I found another wind.
As the end of the event neared the Cadre stopped and asked us if we could sprint to a pier and back in a certain amount of time. To which everyone else shouted yes. He then said, look around you, evaluate your team, will you all be able to sprint there and back in the amount of time, no one left behind. It felt like all eyes were on me. Cadre said something to the effect of, “there might be times of weakness, even in my profession, sometimes I will carry my comrades and sometimes they will carry me in one way or the other.”
Another GRT came up and took my ruck from me, he was now carrying two. Cadre asked again, and we all enthusiastically and affirmatively responded. Cadre gave us the go and we started sprinting. My fellow GRT’s were literally pushing me from behind, and magically my legs started to work better than they had all night. I still had my comrades' support but I was still making significant progress on my own.
The event concluded and I got my patch. In many ways, I still felt as if I didn't earn it. At the time, I didn’t really understand what the mission was. The mission was to push myself, physically, mentally, and emotionally, further than I ever have.
I realize today that while I struggled, my comrades became better leaders, and as I learn this lesson, so do I. We are all going to struggle in life. It is critical that when we are struggling, we acknowledge it, and ask for help when we need it. There is ALWAYS someone out there that will help you carry your weight – whatever that weight may be.
It’s been almost six years since my friends and I completed the GoRuck Tough and I am still learning endless lessons from it. In our weakness, we find our strength. While struggling with our weaknesses others are struggling with theirs. As we are finding our strength, so are others. There is no shame in weakness, except hiding it. We don’t have to know the course, we just have to keep taking the next step. The list goes on and on.
Regardless of how daunting life's challenges may seem, in the darkest of the dark hours, the sun will rise again and the challenges we are currently facing will come to pass. Together, we will emerge from the trenches and become stronger for it.
#grt #galileo #lessonslearned #passingthetorch #storytelling #eternalflame #eternalflamemedia #help