Musings 
No Comments Stuck in a Box???
Below is a story I wrote some time ago about a personal challenging experience. Although the specifics of my challenges have no similarities to our current health and economic challenges with CoVid19 I feel that the lessons learned and the message shared have current relevance. You be the judge…
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Feeling “Closed-in”? No Progress? Can’t Escape?
Personal story: Air Force POW/Survival Training
As an U.S. Air Force pilot in the early ‘70’s, I underwent POW/ Survival training. The training was to teach skills that would allow you to survive in the wilderness with no food, tools, or companions, using only your wits and the resources available in jungle or forest habitat. The training was very rigorous and demanding.
The training was also designed to prepare you for the extreme duress of being a Prisoner of War (POW).
One process used to simulate the isolation and torture that would likely be experienced as a POW was, after much physical and mental harassment, to force and lock you into “pitch black” box about the size of a small dish-washing machine. This was extremely uncomfortable and nearly mentally unbearable.
The time spent “in the box”, although usually less than an hour each time, seemed to last forever, kind of like in life, when you are experiencing a rut, depression, or severe problem with no solution in sight.
The box experience was transforming. For some, it was so horrific that they failed the test and did not complete the training. I even heard comments like, “If being a POW is anything like the training, I’ll never let them take me alive!” For others, the box experience was motivational. Motivating from the point of view that even with the nearly unbearable anguish, we could “come through”, complete the test, and move forward.
The box became a symbol of our inner strength and commitment to do whatever is necessary to survive, to succeed, to care for ourselves, our family, our country. I trust that this was the real intention of the prisoner training exercises.
Many of us who completed the test shared reflections that regardless of the physical and mental suffering we were sustained by knowing that it was a simulation; that the Air Force had just spent a million dollars training us as pilots, and the faith that they were really on our side.
This comforting and sustaining awareness was crucial to survival. And so it is with all of our life experiences. What if you lived your life believing that the Universe is really on your side?
It is my firm belief that we were not given life for ‘no reason’. Not yet knowing the reason is not justification for not embracing the nurture of a sustaining Universe. Treading in the comfort of a purposeful and nurturing Universe gives us strength to move through life’s challenges, and it inspires and stimulates us to move toward greater insight, wisdom, well-being, and contribution.
The magic of life is that these are different for everyone and we get to play in a world of unlimited diversity, beauty, privilege, and opportunity. And it always starts from where we are— now!
So what box are you in? Where do you want to go armed with the knowledge and faith that the Universe will support?
Remember, even with such support, it’s You in the box and it’s You who must do the doing to move through and toward your challenges and contributions.
So our next questions should be, “What do I want to do?” and “What will I do to get there?”
It is my personal belief that the necessary expression of appreciation for the Universe’s support is Action and Service for the benefit of others.
