The Unforgiving Minute

Wow.  I wanted to wait until I finished my new book (Craig Mullaney’s The Unforgiving Minute) before I started commenting on it, but that’s going to be plainly impossible.  In fact I wasn’t even going to post at all today, but I need to get my thoughts down before they are overridden by whatever comes next.

First of all, I couldn’t have picked it up at a better time for the purpose of blogging.  Many of the questions I posed over the past few days with regards to a combat MOS are strikingly similar to those Mullaney asks himself in the early parts of the book as he is advancing through West Point.  Why does he want to be an infantry officer?  How does he reconcile that with his upbringing?  What does the enjoyment he gets out of running through bayonet drills say about him as a person?

It’s reassuring to hear that I’m not alone in these feelings, questions, and doubts.  At least not alone in spirit, but in reality, I am pretty alone in this quest.  I know all of you reading this (90 page views yesterday!) are also “with me,” but Mullaney and his fellow cadets are physically and mentally together on their journey and that’s a distinct advantage.  The physical and mental challenges are shared and thus easier.

It was good to remember this today because sometimes when I’m working out I feel so weak when I can’t run faster or push harder.  I find myself trying to imagine a drill instructors face and voice in my head demanding that I do more, better.  It’s hard to really get your adrenaline pumping when you are doing push-ups on your apartment floor before work.  Granted I just started training, and I know I’ll get better, but some of the physical challenges these soldiers overcome are incredible.  Mullaney chalks much of their fortitude up to the fact that when 40 other people are counting on you to pull your weight, it’s harder to quit than to keep going.  Often times for me the reverse is true.

I did, however, find a great way to get my adrenaline up for those lonely push-up work outs in my apartment.  You may have heard of Modern Warfare 2, the latest release in the super popular Call of Duty video game franchise.  It’s an amazing first-person shooter that you can either play alone or online.  When I play online I can get really into the matches and usually work up a sweat even while sitting still.  In between each 10 minute round is a roughly 30 to 45 second break period where the teams are reformed.  Today I discovered that I can squeeze out a lot of push-ups in that downtime!  It’s not uncommon for me to play this game three hours at a time, so it ends up being a lot of push-ups.  Now I just need to stuff a treadmill into my bedroom and I’ll be good to go!

The first 75 pages of Mullaney’s work have offered me one final encouragement.  At one point he asks an advisor what he can do to prepare for the future.  The response is threefold:

“First,” he said, “relax.

“Second, buy a journal.

“Third, write in that journal every day.  Observe.  Analyze.  Synthesize.  The point is to write, ask questions, and, most important, to think.”