JohnRunchey.com

Eight years ago, shortly after the birth of my second daughter, I became a Navy seal. You know the Navy seals, the elite fighting forces who can endure anything. Maybe on T.V. you've seen the training they are put through, the training that develops their mental toughness to be unaffected by any obstacle. During 'hell week', the trainees are kept cold, wet, and hungry for days on end. They spend hours sitting in the ocean surf, in the dark, freezing in the 50-degree water. Instructors badger them relentlessly, telling them to quit, that they'll never make it. Ring the bell and you are done, on your way home to a hot shower. It's a tough gig.
 
How did I survive this? I didn't.
 
I'm no seal - on the contrary, I'm a soft, middle-aged guy with a desk job. I'd be crying like a baby before the training barely got off the ground. So what the hell am I talking about becoming a Navy seal?
 
I adopted the attitude of a SEAL before my second kid came along. "Nothing will bother me, nothing will faze me, I can endure anything" was my mantra. Baby keeps me awake? No problem, I'm a seal. My life revolving around the needs of an infant? No problem, I'm a seal.  I will endure.
 
I built this attitude because I was often miserable after my first kid came along, and I was determined to feel differently with the second. Giving up control of my life after my first daughter came along was very challenging. I felt I was in the back seat of a car, along for the ride while the needs of my child worked the steering and set the course. I loved having control of that car, and now I was a passenger. I had a wonderful wife and daughter, yet I was often despondent. My logic told me I had a great thing, my emotions told me something else. This is not right.
 
As my daughter grew and matured, my attitude improved. The terrible-two's sucked, but by age 4 a rational being emerged. Now, this is enjoyable. The dark clouds lift and I am once again normal.
 
Shortly thereafter our second was on the way. I was determined not to be a miserable dick again, so I became the Navy seal.
 
And it worked. When I'd get frustrated, I'd step back, look at the situation objectively, and remind myself of what the seals endure. This is nothing, I can do this.
 
It is said the only thing we have 100% control over is our own thoughts. How true that is, and yet how challenging it can be. 
 
Next time you are overwhelmed, maybe you should become a Navy seal as well.