Live To Fight Another Day

You have probably heard the phrase, “Live to fight another day.” And that is exactly what I was trying to do.

You may be trying to do that in your own life as well.

When I was in my teens I thought it would be cool to be a lifeguard.  And it was.

Except for the part where they train you to be a lifeguard.

After several weekends of training at a local YMCA, it was graduation day.

The instructors had told us to bring a full set of clothes on our final day, long pants, long sleeve shirt, shoes, etc.

Not knowing what was to come, I thought it would be a good idea to wear heavy fatigue army pants, a long sleeve shirt and a heavy type of shoe.

Not a good idea.

When we arrived we were told we would have to swim 20 laps of an Olympic size pool in our full clothing and to follow instructions once in the pool.

As I swam I literally thought this would be the day I would die from my desire to be a lifeguard and save people’s lives.

On the 19th lap a whistle was blown and we were told to tread water, which was nearly impossible given the weight of the clothes and how long we had been in the pool.

We were then instructed to unbutton the top button of our shirt, and if we wanted to live, to blow air into the front of our shirt.

I did as instructed, and the air flowed into the shirt and became a life preserver of sorts that kept us afloat and treading water.

Once we finished the exercise there was a sense of confidence in each of us that no matter how seemingly impossible the situation, we would survive.

And we did.

And you will also.

If you stay calm, don’t panic and continue to breathe you will get through whatever it is you are currently faced with.

That lesson has stayed with me for years, and I will revert back to it in times of difficulty because I know that if I survived that experience, I can survive anything that might come my way.

You may feel like you are going under, you may feel like this is it for you, that there is no hope.

But you are not going under, you will get through this and the one thing you do have…is hope.

Don’t panic.

You will survive this and you will “live to fight another day.”