The only easy day was yesterday.
I have a brother in law, Eric, who is a retired Gunnery Sergeant in the Marine Corps and he has a brother, Danny, who served for many years as a Navy Seal. Now between my being an old soldier and the way Marines talk about the Navy boys good natured ribbing is par for the course when we share a drink together. But you know those boys in Coronado have a tradition that i really love, it's called "ringing the bell".
Part of the lore of Navy Seal "buds" training is that at any time during training a candidate can quit by just going up and ringing the bell that's hoisted on a post on the beach. The instructors primary objective is to weed out those who can't take the demands, discipline and teamwork required to earn the right to wear the coveted trident and get them to quit.“If you quit now you could go get a room at one of those luxury hotels down the beach and do nothing but sleep for an entire day!"
The appeal of the siren song to take a proverbial knee is compelling.
But a few don't ring the bell, (a very few) they won't even consider it - it's not an option. What is it that seperates those that do ring the bell each day on their dreams, goals and higher standards from those who don't? I think it is what happens in the minds of those who achieve consistently what others don't. They tell themselves something that others don't. They ones who make it understand a simple phrase:
"Can't means Won't".
Thank you for this reminder, Dan! Takes me back to my training for the Carlsbad Marathon. My husband and I used to train on Silverstrand (20 mile run - from Imperial Beach to Coronado and back) and I used to watch the Navy Seals training for motivation. If they were not going to quit, we were not either. One 20 mile run, a Seal passed us on a bicycle and firmly and objectively said "Good Job". That was the most proud moment of our training, besides finishing all 26.2 in the race!
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