Thursday, July 2, 2009

Thursday's Thoughts

Today's Thought:
The obstacle is the path. ~Zen Proverb
I have a saying about soldiers, and it is true about people in general; I often say that they can be broken into three categories and it has to do with how they deal with obstacles or roadblocks.

The first on is the most common in the general population of humans, and is most prominent in the army in people who are either lower ranking or deserve to be. This is the group of people who travel through life on their own, but when they come to an obstacle, they look for someone to show them the way over or around it. This does not make them bad people, just constant followers. And the world, and the Army especially needs followers.
The second group of people are the ones that when faced with an obstacle immediately begin to find their own way over, under, around, or through the roadblock. These are those people that we call natural born leaders. Whether or not people are born this way or made so, I will not suppose at this time, but I will say that the army for the most part refines this group and cultivates them to be the finest NCOs and Officers in the military. I will not lie and say that every leader in the army falls into this second category of people, but the good ones do.
The last group is the group that I despise. I am sad to admit that I find them in the Army as well as in my "civilian life." This is the group of people that while they are traveling through life, they do their best to find anything they can place in their way and call it an obstacle, often piling more and more excuses and circumstances on the roadblock until someone has to come along and help them along. I don't have a clue how to relate to these people let alone how to fix them, but I am open to suggestions.

As this week's thought suggests, it's the obstacles in life that define our paths. I hope that yours are free of debris until next week.

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