Adversity Boot Camp

Everyone will face challenges and adversity at some point in their life, and although it is important to get through it, taking something beneficial from the situation, learning from it, and moving forward is what we should all strive to do. While reading different articles on the Internet, I came across an article that wrote about some of the adversity a new recruit faces during basic training. The article was written specifically about the different situations in basic training, but these situations provided great life lessons that can be applied to anyone in everyday/civilian life with a little modification.

1. If You Can’t Carry It, Wear It, or Shoot It, Leave It Behind
During basic training, the men were given an objective that required packing only necessary supplies. Some of the men complained about not being able to take equipment that they thought was necessary for a successful mission, but towards the end those same men were glad that they did not have the extra gear to carry, and the mission was completed successfully. They were quickly taught to be successful with only the necessary tools. In everyday life, this lesson may not mean literally carrying around extra gear, but having a cluttered life that gets in the way of your priorities. Is getting the newest gadget necessary for living a happy life? Taking on too many tasks can also make our life cluttered. When overloaded with things to do, prioritize the most important, time sensitive tasks to be done first. By prioritizing what needs to be done, you will be able to get done what needs to be done and can get to the less important tasks at a later time.

2. Run, Shoot, Communicate
Everyday, the men practiced three skills that their commanding officer felt was essential for every soldier to possess in order to be effective. First, they went through physical training because if all else failed, they could run to their mission. After they exercised, they went to the shooting range because in a real firefight using their weapons had to be like a reflex. Finally, they worked on different communication skills because the men needed to be in sync and could not have success with any miscommunication. The type of person you want to be can be simplified to a few essential characteristics that, when done successfully, lead you to success. First decide what those essential characteristics need to be and what skill they will require you to have. These skills need to be worked on and practiced everyday. If you want to be a successful spouse, parent, friend, etc., decide what will lead you to success as a couple and work on it. One important characteristic to start working on for success is to always do what you say you are going to do. This skill will benefit you personally and professionally.

3. Practice Mindfulness
One of the men explained that he was much less accurate while shooting when he was preoccupied with everything else he had going on. He noticed that when he was totally focused on the range, he was much more accurate and faster. Have you ever noticed that when you are thinking about everything you need to do for the day, that it is much easier to make careless mistakes with whatever you doing at that time? It is so important to stay focused on the task at hand, be present in the moment. How can you do your best at something when you aren’t focused on what you’re doing? No matter how small the task may be, do it with 100 percent effort and move on. When you’re at work, be totally focused on your job, when you’re at home, be totally focused on your family, and when you are doing something for yourself, be totally focused on that. Make solid lines that distinguish what you want your focus to be on in order to get the most out of ever moment.

4. Outranking Someone Doesn’t Equal Control of Them
During basic training, the men talked about different drill sergeants. Some of the men talked about how much they respected one of their drill sergeants and would love to go into battle with him, but hated that they had to listen to another sergeant because of how he treated them. Being the boss might mean that you outrank somebody at work, and they might have to listen to you, but it doesn’t mean that person respects you. When I think about this principle, the America Indian Proverb, “When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us,” comes to mind. When having a leadership role over others it is important to lead them in a way that they will want to do their best because you are all in it together.

Life is filled with challenges, relationship challenges, family challenges, professional challenges, etc., but the best things in life never come easy. We should always be striving to better our situations and ourselves.

Too Much Food, Not Enough Nutrients

When you think of somebody that is malnourished, chances are a starving child in a desolate third world country comes to mind. It can easily be assumed that because somebody is obese, they are getting more than enough nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. However, that is often not the case. Easy access to processed, calorie-dense yet nutrient-deficient foods has resulted in children gaining weight while missing vital nutrients in their diet.

For the first time, the number of people that are obese has surpassed the number of hungry, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross’ Word Disaster Report. Obesity now affects one in five children in the United States. Not only does the excess weight cause health problems, the nutrient deficiencies that are associated with poor food choices are contributing to sickness and disease as well. Diseases that were once associated with the elderly are now being diagnosed in children, diseases such as Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), high cholesterol, and arthritis. Obesity is a rapidly growing issue in the United States. According to the CDC, one third of adults and approximately 17 percent of all children and adolescents 2-19 years old are obese. No state has met the nation's Healthy People 2010 goal to lower obesity prevalence to 15%. We are a country of excess, but this excess consumption of processed foods is leaving us starving for nutrients and lacking in health.

We need to remember that food is fuel for our body. In order to keep our bodies working the way they were designed to, we need to be putting in more of the things it needs and less of the things it doesn’t need; more of the foods made by God and less of the foods made by man.

So what are you going to do, contribute to the problem or become part of the solution? Teaching our children healthy eating habits has to be a priority. Children learn their eating habits from their parents, whose parents learned their eating habits from their parents. If bad eating habits are being passed down, the cycle needs to be broken! We need to be good role models and provide healthy meal and snack options for our children.

Try taking small steps to change the way your family is eating. Small changes each day will add up to a lifetime of health and happiness. Make it a priority to work on Essential #3 with your family.

References:

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/

Low vitamin D levels may contribute to development of Type 2 diabetes. The Endocrine Society (2011, December 5). ScienceDaily.

Health consequences of obesity in youth: childhood predictors of adult disease. Dietz WH. Pediatrics. 1998 Mar;101(3 Pt 2):518-25.

Obese Children and Adolescents: A Risk Group for Low Vitamin B12 Concentration Orit Pinhas-Hamiel, MD; Noa Doron-Panush, RD; et al. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006;160:933-936.

Vitamin status in morbidly obese patients. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 87, No. 2, 362-369, February 2008

Blood vitamin and lipid levels in overweight and obese women. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition [1992, 46(11):803-8]

B vitamins, vitamin C and hematological measurements in overweight and ovese Thais in Bangkok. Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand. [2002, 85(1):17-25]