Navy Seals have a saying: “the only easy day was yesterday”. Meaning what’s behind you is done, but today is going to be hard. Quit whining, face the day. Army Rangers are taught to live by the Ranger Creed which opens with “Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession….”. Every Ranger knows they are in something that comes with hazards, but they volunteered anyway.
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The bottom line is that if it was easy everyone would do it.
NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady did an interview not so long ago. Brady said that to be successful stop blaming everyone else. The seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback sat for an edition of "Football Morning in America" and took issue with complainers. "Life is about always changing and adapting to different things. Today, the world wants to blame, and shame, and guilt, and fear everything all the time," he told King. "We would never teach our kids that, you know? We would never say, ‘This is how you’re gonna get through life the best — you’re gonna blame everyone when things don’t go right….It’s not how to live a joyful life.”
He’s right. Joy never came from complaining. The best stuff - the most rewarding events - the things that stay with you - the things that build your character - they don’t come easy. If it was easy everyone would do it.
One of my personal heroes is Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-Fil-A. He had an idea for a restaurant that would sell chicken sandwiches, put customers first, and remain closed on Sunday’s. He was told no one would come to a restaurant like that. He was told that it wouldn’t be profitable to value customers over profits. Today Chick-Fil-A is one of the premier fast-food giants with a multi-billion-dollar portfolio and massive brand loyalty. In his book, Eat Mor Chik’in: Inspire More People, Cathy said “Chick-fil-A is what it is today because of its people, purpose and product.” But it wasn’t easy. If it was easy everyone would’ve done it.
My wife’s grandfather was a family legend. Charles Stoker’s story has inspired me many times. In the 1930’s he took all of his savings to start a poultry supply company. He spent all he had on an old delivery wagon and a load of chicken to deliver to restaurants. On the first delivery the car broke down in the heat of the day and all of the chicken went bad. Everything was gone. The story goes that he called his sweet wife distraught. She had been working as telephone operator and told him that she had some money saved up in a coffee can at the house and he was not done. She told him to take that money and start over. It wasn’t easy. But he took the money out of that coffee can and built a multi-million-dollar business. Stoker’s Tenderex Farms still exists today.
I’m telling you, if it was easy everyone would do it.
I get it. As a young Army Officer I had the honor of attending the US Army Ranger School. For several months I waded through swamps, climbed mountains, was sleep deprived. I lost 30 pounds, had trench foot, frost bite, and was hospitalized at one point. 450 tried to get in my Ranger class. 250 made it past the first few days. 98 graduated. But there came a moment when I was told that I would have to repeat the swamp phase. A do-over that meant weeks of more chest deep cold water and misery. I was despondent. I had a rare opportunity to call home to my sweet bride and I told her I didn’t know if I could do it again. If she had said quit, I would have packed my bags. But she didn’t. “Don’t do it” she said. “If you quit now, you will always regret it”. She was right. I’m an Army Ranger because of my lovely wife. She put some steel in my spine that day and two months later she pinned on my Ranger tab. It was one of the worst best experiences of my life!
If it was easy everyone would do it.
But this attitude includes our politics as well. We are in a watershed moment in American politics. Call it the MAGA movement, or the restoration of common-sense politics. The return of values based political discourse and conservative legislation. But if you’ve been watching, or participating, then you know this did not come easy. And the attacks are going to keep coming and the only easy day was yesterday. Our role as conservatives is to not let it be taken away. Our job now is to champion the good stuff, point out the bad stuff, demand accountability, and do the work. Preservation of this victory is not going to last if all we do is muster up some keyboard courage and type a retort on social media. It is not enough to just yell at the TV news.
We can’t just say “oh good, Trumps got it”. It takes an army to fight what the general directs. Trump may be the key figure, but we are all key players. The only easy day was yesterday. Pick your battlefield. Stake your claim. Make your stand. Choose your cause. Get involved. Do the hard thing fully knowing the hazards of your chosen profession.
Stories are not told in reverent tones of those who sat idly by. History will look back on this time and take note if we squander this victory by staying comfortable. How will future generations judge our actions…..or inactions?
Do the hard thing.
If it was easy everyone would do it.
Check out my monologue on this here: MONOLOGUE
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