Word of the Day ~ July 9, 2012

Today's "Word of the Day" was taken from the book, Seal of God: The Path is Narrow ... but the Reward is Great by former US Navy SEAL, Chad Williams.

·         "The path to quitting is permanently paved when someone allows quitting to become an option." ~ C.W.

            I don’t know about everyone else who joins the military but I know that when I walked into the US Navy recruiting office back in 1987, the only thing that I wanted to do was become a SEAL. Sure, being the best of the best was appealing but I think, more than anything, I just wanted a legal place to release some rage!

            The funny thing about that period in my life is that God had other plans and no matter what I did to train for and pass the SEAL initial test, I was not given the opportunity to pursue my desire to earn the Trident. Was I frustrated? Sure. I felt like I deserved the same chance as anyone else who had passed that qualification test. Have I thought about the “What If’s” an infinite number of times over the years? Sure I have but I’ve also realized some other things along the way as a result of not being given that opportunity.

1.       Live the Boy Scouts’ motto, “Be Prepared.” Lack of preparation is not an excuse to miss an opportunity.

2.      Excuses are a coward’s way of not accepting responsibility.

3.      You can always do more than you think you can so don’t quit – don’t ever give up.

4.      Sometimes – and this took a lot of years to realize – God’s plan takes a lot longer to unravel than your plans do: not because of him but because of you!

5.      Don’t forget what you’ve learned along the way.

6.      Don’t burn any bridges that you cross because you never know when you might need to backtrack or help someone else get across those same bridges.

7.      There will be some circumstances that will be completely out of your hands and that’s okay too. You just refer back to point #2 and find another way to get it done. And if it simply can’t be done then you have to realize that you weren’t meant to do it … but maybe only for that season. Try again later.

            These life lessons paid off June 29^th as I received word that I was selected to accession as an Active Duty Army Chaplain. Perseverance pays off! I can’t wait to write the next entry into the adventure series called My Life.