As I was researching my post earlier today I ran across these photos and quotes from the book SEAL: The Unspoken Sacrifice. I thought they reflected some lessons learned from 40 to 20.
On not listening to the voices in your head…
“In their mind, students ultimately fight the urge not to listen to the ‘little voice in their head’ that pleads beyond reason for sleep and warmth. A favorite phrase of those in Hell Week is, ‘If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.’”
On knowing when not to hold back…
“My wife is really cool about it. She doesn’t try and tell me to be careful or anthing like that. She knows me well enough to know that the moment you try too hard to be careful is the moment you get hurt. She tells me to go out and kick ass and don’t hold back. That makes things much easier.”
It’s not all about you. Be empathetic to what is going on with them…
“When I met my husband he had just begun BUD/S training and we learned a lot about the Teams together, which I believe helped me understand it so much more from his point of view. I also saw him work very hard to accomplish what so few men can and it made me have a greater respect for him and the job he does.”