IT'S CALLED LIFE…

It happens to everyone… no one is immune to the daily events. 
Some of it we bring on by what we do…  or do not do…
Some of it we create by our actions or our attitude or both…
Some of it happens because of the actions and attitudes of others…
    and how we respond to it determines the outcome…
Some of it is human failure … What they were trying to achieve was
        not possible for them at that time…
Some of it is mechanical failure… Some machine made by man failed,
   broke or wore out …
Some of it is arbitrary and we did not and cannot affect the incident…
We did not cause the incident …
No human being caused the incident…
BUT WE CAN AFFECT THE OUTCOME TO SOME GREATER OR LESSER DEGREE BY USE OF  TALENT, KNOWLEDGE, ACTION AND INTELLIGENCE.

Each Peace Keeper goes out to do their job.  They go with the attitude of coming back whole if they can… but they went nonetheless not knowing what could befall them… but usually not thinking about "what if?", except to keep their senses sharp by going over scenarios in their minds.  By faith in themselves, their training, their equipment and their support systems they went to do a job that usually falls somewhere in the unknown category until it is entered into.  Patrol comes from the French language from a word literally meaning to go through puddles…  But add to that the fact that Peace Keepers on patrol are hunters…  They are hunting for things that destroy peace so that it can be restored…  They are looking for knowledge of threats so they can be deterred…  They are the front lines of peace and safety.

I received a message from one of my readers proclaiming how his life had changed for the better because my harping on attitude had gotten through to him…   And now his life and career are so very much better for him and others he deals with because he evaluated and adjusted his attitude on how he viewed things and how he did things.  I thank God for the ones who take time to send feedback .  Feedback is so important to communication.  I write for the purpose of affecting lives and careers for their good.  I learn from feedback whether it be positive or negative.  I always respond to every letter with appreciation.

I write to and for you because I have learned some of these important lessons by digging and experience gained in the activity of patrol and enforcement.  I learned some from the lives of other warrior/peace keepers both living and deceased.  Since the day I began my career so very long ago I have never ceased to dig for a better way than I knew.  I thank God that the knowledge I needed was available if I would seek it, absorb it and put it to use.  My only real usefulness today is to pass along what I have learned and tested in the crucible of experience.  My contribution of tried, tested and survived knowledge might someday save your life and extend your usefulness to yourself and those you love.  None of what I pass on to you is new nor original with me.  It is all gleaned from many sources too numerous to remember and impossible to compile.

I am the product of many instructors, much reading, study, research and experience.  If I could I would personally thank every teacher who taught me discipline starting with my parents.  Like all other children of my time I thought them too hard and too strict… but they and all of my teachers have each instilled something good that outlasted my feelings and convinced me of the usefulness of the lessons.  When it came time to choose my life course I had been prepared and convinced to try for excellence even if I did not succeed… yet somewhere deep within me I knew I was lacking a very vital ingredient… a key to a lock that needed to be opened.

That key was not one person, not one event, not one piece of knowledge… it was a composite of all that had happened to me, how I responded to what happened and the outcome of taking advantage of opportunities and leadings that presented themselves to me both internally and externally… and never being satisfied with the status quo.  Some of those opportunities came through very tight and difficult adversity… incidents that many called unfair… even cruel.  Some came from an inner hunger that would not, could not be denied.  They all fell into place like the pieces of a very intricate jigsaw puzzle and became the picture of life for me.

When I suffer from something I did… I learn from it.  Don't do that same action again!!!  When I suffer from the actions of others I ask a question of myself… What am I supposed to learn here?… and I have learned to ask, "Father teach me."  When I find someone else who has learned to put to use what I need to know I have learned to ask that person to teach me.  When I find some individual among the tomes of literature available to me that knew what I need to know I study how they did it and apply what is gleaned.  

I have learned that nothing happens without a reason even if I never know the reason.  I am left with choice… how will I act or react to the incident, situation, circumstance or opportunity?  Only I can answer that question for me… only you can answer that question for you.

I can wail and cry… or get up and make the best of it.  When I went to bed last night I was reminded of those many times I went to bed in my youth in an unheated bedroom where the temperature was about the same as it was outside.  Many times water in a glass would be frozen when I awoke.  Sometimes there would be snow on the floor from the howling wind of a blizzard that had blown in through a crack.   You simply got up… put on more clothes over the long johns and socks you slept in and went into the kitchen or front room where you built a fire if one was not already built.  Only after it began to warm up in the room did you remove the stocking cap you slept in.

Life is what you make of it when you use the opportunities presented or work to make opportunities of your own.

The same applies to careers whether law enforcement, military or something else.  Every successful person had a goal in mind when they made their journey from where they were to where they are.  Very few make it without a map to follow.  For twenty seven years I sought and prayed for the way to pull it all together into a workable life… for a way to stop being a pinball… knocked around and falling into holes.  I found what works for me and put it to use  in 1968. 

I found that I had now embarked on a whole new way of seeing and doing things in daily life.  It took a while for me to get the basics into a workable usable form.  I became an apprentice (disciple) to a master who knew the ways and means of getting life to work well.  He taught so well that I became fascinated with how simple it all was when you learn and follow directions.

I am now looking forward to what will be my next phase of life.  I have asked my COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF for adjustment in orders… what will be my next assignment?  For now I do not know, nor do I need to know, today.  It will come when I need to know.  Until then I will continue to do all I know to do with what I have where I am and leave the rest to Him and to whomever else is responsible.

I am writing this on Thanksgiving Day.  It is one of the two days in the year in which I do not receive phone calls.  Usually everyone is busy celebrating with others and sharing a good meal someplace…  or recovering from that meal by snoozing in front of an entertainment center…  I know that some of you are keeping the peace on a field in a foreign land and are in danger just by being there…  I know that some of you are keeping the peace here at home on a beat on foot or in a patrol car whether in a rural area, on an Interstate or in a city or town…  All of you are standing guard while we celebrate in the peace you have provided…  THANK YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE AND FOR WHAT YOU DO.  THIS WORLD WOULD BE A TERRIBLE PLACE IN WHICH TO LIVE IF IT WERE NOT FOR EACH OF YOU AND ALL OF YOU.  EACH OF YOU ARE VITAL TO OUR WAY OF LIFE.  I AM NOT AN ISLAND… YOU CONTRIBUTE TO MY LIFE AND WELFARE AND I HOPE I CONTRIBUTE TO YOURS.  IF I COULD I WOULD THANK EACH PEACE KEEPER PERSONALLY, PIN A MEDAL ON YOUR CHEST AND GIVE YOU A LARGE SUM OF MONEY… BUT, ALAS, THAT IS NOT WITHIN MY CURRENT ABILITIES TO ACCOMPLISH… SO ALL I CAN DO IS TO THANK YOU UNTIL YOU ARE BETTER PAID.  MY THANKS, MY BLESSINGS AND MY PRAYERS ARE FOR YOU NOW AND ETERNALLY.

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