Fit for Life: Conquer Life’s Ambushes. Get Off the X
Saturday, March 07, 2020
Matt Espeut
As usual, I got a lot of big takeaways from listening that not only resonated with me, but I think will bring value to you also.
Let me start by saying that I write these articles, NOT as an authority, but as a student myself. Understand that I am not as successful, grounded, and organized with my life as I would like to be, therefore I keep listening and learning ways to improve my current situation.
So, let it be known that what I write is something that relates to me, or it is something that I am learning and implementing in my life. I am an information gatherer, that shares what they learn, and I do this so I can help others along the way, that are encountering similar circumstances.
This article discusses adversity and ambushes we face in life, and how to turn a bad situation around.
Most of the adversity we will go through in life will pale in comparison to Mr. Redman.
He was a Navy Seal in the Iraq war that saw and experienced a great deal of trauma. He tells the story of how he nearly died serving our great country, and how it took over 40 surgeries to put him back together. He was involved in a ground ambush, shot several times and left for dead.
In military terms, he experienced being stuck on the X or caught in the line of fire, and he relates his experience to what us civilians go through on an everyday basis.
What he refers to as life ambushes.
We as humans have either been through life ambushes, are currently in one now, or are about to get hit with one.
He refers to life ambushes as something that will cause us physical, emotional, or psychological trauma.
Anything from career-ending injuries, to divorce, to losing money, to losing a loved one, it WILL happen to us all.
Throughout the podcast, he describes that he had an epiphany one day that made him realize that normal civilians get ambushed just like soldiers in the military minus the AED’s and ground fire. He runs a nonprofit group that deals with wounded warriors and helps them get off the X and be productive in everyday life.
He created the acronym R-E-A-C-T to best describe the strategy we should all use when we are involved in a life ambush, and the fastest way to get off the X, so it doesn’t cause more damage than necessary.
R- Recognize the crisis and admit that you are in one. The biggest mistake we can make is to live in denial, and not recognize that you are going through some adversity and have a problem.
E- Evaluate your resources and know what’s available to you. We always have resources at our fingertips that can help us alleviate almost every circumstance we find ourselves in. It could be anything from a support group, to an attorney, or just hitting up Google, so evaluate what resources you have, and implement the one that works best for you.
A- Assess your options and outcomes and make a decision. If you do not make a decision, you are bound to stay on the X too long. In the podcast he states that even the best of bad decisions is still better than staying in the ambush. If you do not remove yourself fast enough, you will become comfortable being the victim and use it as an excuse to stay where you are.
C- Choose and communicate. Choose the people that are able to help you and communicate to them that you need help. If you keep your problems bottled up inside, they will most likely lead to anxiety and depression, which will worsen the situation.
T- Take action and execute. Don’t wait for the time to be right, act fast. The longer you wait, the longer you will stay on the X and the more damaging the situation will become to you. In most cases, even a bad decision is better than no decision, because if we don’t make that decision, something or someone else will, and that would be worse than our own.
In his podcast, he states that because he is a Navy Seal, people think that he is immune to adversity in everyday life. He follows up by saying that he is human too, has problems, has feelings, cries and feels pain just like everyone else.
That is the reason why he created this system for everyday civilians like you and me, so we can take the steps to plow through life adversity and get off the X.
Remember, it’s easier to stay on the X and be the victim, however that isn’t the best way to conduct your life. When an ambush hits, people will feel sorry for you and offer sympathy, but that won’t help you overcome the situation.
There are solutions for every problem, but if you don’t take action and do something for yourself, the problem will magnify and bleed into other areas of your life.
So, when, NOT IF, you get ambushed in life, try to implement these steps and use this process to help you deal with the trauma and pain, so you can prevail and overcome anything that comes your way.
Committed to your success,
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