On Adaptability
In the dance of life, it's not about predicting the next move, but adapting to the rhythm that's thrown your way.
We know that in tough times, cynicism is just another way to give up, and in the military, we consider cynicism or giving up simply as forms of cowardice.
General James “Mad Dog” Mattis, USMC (Ret.)
On Adaptability
Adapt and overcome. The amount of times I have heard that phrase throughout my life must number in the thousands if not tens of thousands.
Adapt and overcome. Do more with less. Embrace the suck. Embrace suffering. Pain is weakness leaving the body. If it ain’t rainin’ we ain’t trainin’.
All of that can be boiled down to the same message. That message? Adapt and overcome. That’s the first one I mentioned but it’s what they all require and they all call us to do. The Marine Corps was a tough experience for me as it is for everybody, but it was well worth it.
Many of the times I have heard that expression, adapt and overcome, were from my own mouth. I understood what the words meant, I understood what I meant by them, but I rarely used them as they were intended.
I used them as a way to tell my Marines or anyone else to stop whining, get back to work, I know it sucks but I don’t want to hear it.
I feel that’s justifiable. Considering we were all suffering and considering suffering is part of the job there hearing about it each time someone was not enjoying themselves would drive a person insane. So just shut up and do your job.
Some expansion of the concept may have helped back then. Perhaps looking into what the words I was saying meant, beyond the obvious, would have assisted in my own edification of what everyone was going through.
I was trying to survive, they were trying to survive, we were all suffering. We didn’t have to suffer the whole time, though. And “trying to survive” is a bit tongue in cheek, admittedly. I wasn’t in a war zone, but I was attempting to retain my sanity. That was a tough time.
Saying “shut up and work” to a headstrong young man or young lady can work from time to time but it does nothing to help them understand and cope with the reality of the work or even of life.
It’s not helpful beyond getting them to go away. The intent was to do just that, but that intent is purely selfish. Naturally I would do it now but, given my current status as a father and caregiver there would likely be a lecture tied to it as well.
Adapt and overcome, Devil Dog. Life sucks, embrace it as well as you can and you’ll survive. Be Gumby, as they say. Be flexible, life won’t move for you.
Young Devil, you must understand that everyone around you is miserable too. Life isn’t fair here, fairness doesn’t win wars. Fairness doesn’t make you stronger. Fairness doesn’t keep you alive.
What does keep you alive is adaptability and endurance. Stay limber and maneuver around the roadblocks that get in your way. Stay persistent and carry on when you think you can’t anymore. I assure you it’s possible.
Even while you change tack from time to time you must continue moving forward. Move towards the gunshots, move towards what makes you fearful, what makes you uncomfortable, what makes you anxious. After all, we must identify what we’re up against in order to close with and destroy it.
When you do figure out what that is you will stop being so anxious. You will worry less about what’s coming to get you. Think about it, that great fear, that great unknown is no longer coming to get you.
You’re moving towards it to identify it. You’re doing that so you can understand how to get to it effectively and destroy it. You’re the hunter now. Or, as the Marines put it, you’re the hunter killer.
Do what you can to stay flexible, to embrace adaptation and endurance. This life is a marathon, but it isn’t a straight path. Be prepared to make changes on the fly and embrace them when they happen. That’s the only way to get through and the only way to find peace.
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