Yesterday was the 7th anniversary of my wife's leaving this world in death. These seven years have been a redirecting for my life. There has, at times, been moments of great pain and moments of deeeeeep loneliness. When one has a relationship such as we had and then loses their spouse to death, it is an experience that no one can explain nor describe... When those moments come, I stop and set my mind upon them... Then I consciously change my mind to think on the multitudes of joyful moments that we shared and the pain or loneliness dissipates quickly and I get on with the next thing that needs my attention.
That same seven years ago my disabled, ill daughter moved in with me so that I could provide for her welfare since no one else would nor could and we are still deeply engaged in that battle of providing for her welfare.
Because life is so quickly changeable, I have learned to live in the present moment... When past moments come to memory I bring them into my present moment and redirect my thinking to something joyful or useful or something that needs doing... I refocus and keep focused to the best of my ability. If it takes more than one try, I have learned to keep repeating the process until I am successful. I capture painful, hindering thoughts and bring them into the present, keeping my thoughts consciously in order and redirecting as necessary. I learned this process under spiritual training and in learning stress management. It is similar to capturing an enemy and placing that enemy into a place of confinement and safe keeping... Into a place where you do not have to constantly be watching or fighting to control the enemy.
Single mindedness is an attribute that is so powerfully useful to a Peace Keeper. I learned it to some degree through discovery as a child and put it to use. It worked for me even then. When I went into engineering, it again was a most important attribute used to keep tabs on all the things that needed to be accomplished as the job progressed from step to step as I managed the completion of many large, intricate steel structures. I learned to shut out all around me and concentrate upon seeing and doing the things for which I was responsible.
That attribute led me to develop the attribute of seeing, retaining and recording details so they could be retrieved for future use... This in turn led me to refine the ability to hear and identify what I heard as well as seeing. This process sharpened all of my senses and could be most useful in those places where I worked alone as a State Trooper with no backup units available. This observation process turned me into a good investigator and a formidable adversary to those involved in wrong doing. I learned to come to conclusions and learned how to prove my cases. Like the trackers in the movies, I even learned to see when grass was out of place. I once found a wrecked car that was missing for over 24 hours that had wound up in a totally secluded, hidden spot because I found the trail the tires left through the tall grass that had not quite sprung back into the place where it was before the car passed.
These attributes helped me to solve many cases because my mind would gather and analyze the details into a provable case... Even at times bringing together seemingly unrelated details from memory and piecing them together. These abilities made my career as a State Trooper very exciting because I had a very good success rate in my many investigations in auto crashes and criminal investigations.
I share this with you today to encourage you to develop the ability to be single minded in relation to your duties. Single mindedness gives you the ability to accomplish much, yet it also allows you to be flexible but always directed... It keeps you from being distracted... It keeps you focused. This is one of the most useful attributes of snipers and forward observers... It is extremely useful in patrol duties.
Practice setting your mind. First practice by setting your thoughts on something you enjoy. Do this practice in a private place with no alarms, no phones, no pagers, no noise and no distractions of any kind. Set a goal of twenty minutes and practice concentrating on some pleasant, enjoyable, peaceful place... Direct your thoughts to the details, with your eyes closed, until you can see this place and all of it's detail, hear this place, smell this place. Sometimes it is the only means of escape available to us. A friend of mine used this process when he was a prisoner of war being tortured. By the spiritual power he had learned in how to concentrate and fix his mind and thoughts, he could escape the pain they tried to inflict upon him. He was the only survivor of several massacres and the only prisoner of war to escape from Manchuria and return to our forces in South Korea.
Thousands have learned this technique and put it to use. Many thousands have learned how to sharpen their senses to hear and see things that are present that are never discerned by most people. I encourage you to develop this process for yourself because it will increase your effectiveness as you work as a Peace Keeper or as a supporter of Peace Keepers.
There is an organization that can help you with this by taking you out into the wilderness to teach you observation, survival and tracking. If interested, write to One True Dave at www.centuriontraininggroup.org and I am sure he would be glad to assist you.
In my thoughts and in my prayers I dwell upon all of you and I am so deeply appreciative that you are there. This world would be a terrible place in which to live if it were not for people like you in it. Thank you for taking your place in the line between good and evil to give Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness the chance to be experienced by those willing to cooperate and make their best effort.
"BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!" ALWAYS be alert, watchful, suspicious and wary. Take the very best care of you as you care for and about others. See to the strength and well being of your spirit as well as all the rest of you. Your spirit must be strong for you to be successful.
Call or write if I may be of any service... Or if you just want to encourage me... Feedback encourages all who write... It helps to know we are reaching someone who reads the message.
"VICTORIOUS WARRIORS WIN FIRST...
AND THEN GO TO WAR,
WHILE DEFEATED WARRIORS GO TO WAR FIRST...
AND THEN SEEK TO WIN." Sun tzu
Training and practice are everything!
Without them, the best results are not obtained!
ONLY LIVE PEACE KEEPERS SEE THE VICTORY!!!
THEY SEE IT ONLY BECAUSE OTHERS HAVE MADE THEIR ETERNAL
PAYMENTS OF SWEAT, BLOOD, TEARS AND LIFE FOR THAT VICTORY!
WITH THE DEEPEST OF APPRECIATION AND RESPECT...
BE BLESSED (A CONDITION TO BE ENVIED)...
BE SUCCESSFUL... BE SAFE...
[My injunction to be safe means doing all you know to do as you do your job... it means
doing the best you can with what you have where you are using all your faculties to get
the job done well and with good results conquering evil and keeping or restoring peace...
it does not mean to avoid duty and honor... it does not mean to cower or allow anything
to hinder you in the process of duty according to rules, law and ethics... it means that if
the demand takes your earthly life you destroy as much evil as possible in the process.
That is my definition of being safe... doing the best you can and leaving the rest to God
or whomever else is responsible... being best employed for the sake and protection of all
the things and people that we hold dear.]
I represent, write for... and give the credit to:
God the Father (my Commander-in-Chief),
Jesus Christ the Son (the Eternal Captain of my life) and
the Holy Spirit of God (my Eternal Teacher, Keeper and Guide).
In Christ I live... with Him and for you I serve...
And I rejoice that you are there whether you are Christian or not...
D. R. (Don) Staton, Chaplain to Peace Keepers,
Surviving Peace Keeper,
Virginia State Police Alumni,
RETIRED Police Officer Virginia Beach Police Dept.,
DCJS Certified Police Instructor,
Community Service Officer (Traffic Safety)
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
===============================================================
All rights reserved. May not be duplicated without permission, except to be
forwarded with all source information for any quotation intact.
To subscribe to this free e-mail message for Peace Keepers, write to Chaplain D. R. Staton at chpln1@verizon.net or at 3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452.