6 Feb 09 Another Day

Morning,
First off I just want to say that without family and friends I would be lost. Most importantly without the support of my wife and family I would not be able to make it through the deployment. My wife and family have always been my strongest supporters and stand behind me no matter what. No matter what happens they are there to give me encouragement or the occasional kick in the _ _ _ that is sometimes required.

With that being said I'm working here in Ft Lewis Wa to improve my tool box. Chaplain Morris was the first man to talk to me about the tool box of life. As kids our parents, teachers and friends teach us lessons of life. Each lesson you learn goes into your tool box to be used later during life. Sometimes we forget the tools that we have been given and we kick the old tool box under the bed. Later on, if we are lucky we pull the tool box back out and grab a tool to use in our life. As a child I said on more than one occasion that I wasn't going to be the kind of parents that my parents were. Years latter I find that I actually used some of the tools given to me by my parents on being a parent. However I might have dusted the tool off or brought it into Sears for a free upgrade. You know from parent 101 to parent 103.5. Those of us who use our tools regularly know that one tool can be used in an emergency when the actual tool you were looking for was misplaced.

But here I am miles from home looking at my tools in my tool box. I started out with the approach what tools do I need to make it through the deployment. Some of the most important tools were spiritual, mental, and physical. Each of those have sub categories like mental has stability, stamina, and more than likely a lot of guts. Where the spiritual side might have family, commitment, beliefs, honor, and personal integrity. I'm thinking that of the three; spiritual, mental, and physical I'm lacking on one more than the rest. I believe I have the mental part down regardless of the smirks some of you may have right now. The spiritual part I'm OK with as well, I know that without God and the support of my family in my life I would be lost. But the physical side is a different story. Our Body armor and accessories can weigh 60-100 lbs depending on what you opt to carry. Imagine carrying 5 20lb sacks of potatoes for an hour or more. Could you do it, I might have too and I know it's going to be rough at first.

So here is what I'm doing to improve on my physical side. Since last Friday I have been without my beloved Mountain Dew. Granted while I'm out to eat I might have a diet Pepsi but it's a start. When I'm thirsty in the office I now have water. The other thing is I'm working out. Every morning at 530 we (Howe, Ulmen, Townsend and myself) walk to the gym to work out. Round trip is probably 1 mile but we are there for 30-45 minuets. Last but not least I want to get my weight under 200 to feel better about myself. All of the above to include my families support will help me to become better physically.

So I'm asking you what are you doing with the tools in your tool box? Have you looked at them lately?