Let Go

“We can't be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don't have something better.” ― C. JoyBell C.

I went to boot camp in 9th and 10th grade. I had an obsession with pushing myself and my limits; ROTC was just the push I needed. One night (during my 9th grade visit) after it rained all of the squads were outside taking turns in tournaments. I was in squad "India" both times I went to camp. What a coincidence right? Squad India and Foxtrot were called to face off. (By the way, if you haven't already guessed India and Foxtrot are a part of the Phonetic alphabet in which the military uses to communicate among many other things). Foxtrot and India were equally matched. We had faced off in many games, exercises/PT, tests (written or verbal), candences (chants/calls), and everything else you can think of!

This night, the tournament was: Tug-of-war. Great....... I always had a love/hate relationship for tug-of-war. But it didn't matter. I am a winner and I was taught to never give up! I ran to the front of the roped and grabbed it! We had this in the bag I already knew it. As I told you before, we were equally matched so for the longest time there was a lot of back and forth. As the time went on my hands started turning red and begun to burn.... but I had to hold on, I had to give it all I had! As the minutes went on we went back and forth some more but no one budged. I had to give in, I couldn't take the pain anymore.

Just as I thought that my teammate yelled, "they're giving in guys! Keep it up!" Damn...... my feet started sinking down in the mud and my arms felt as though they could fall off any minute. Before I knew it my entire squad plunged forward into the mud.

"What happened!?" I yelled as I turned around to my group.

"Sorry Reese, I couldn't hold on any longer."

I was mad and disappointed. I looked at Foxtrot running around, parading with joy. All of that work for nothing. I gazed down at my hands again. It was blood mixed with mud and I didn't know how to feel. We had battled for a week straight just for us to lose in tug-of-war.

Long story short, at the end of boot camp I was bruised/blistered up, sore, and exhausted from early mornings and long nights (not to mentions PT). In the car ride home my mom had asked "did I have fun?"

And I did have fun! I realized that even though we lost I learned new things, made new friends and did all I could! I had gotten two special awards next to my certificate of completion and I learned very important survival skills!

I only regret that I pushed myself past limit for something as small as a game of tug-of-war (lol). It was more so for my ego. As humans we do a lot out of ego even when we know the situation is of little importance. We say it's the principle. Sometimes all we have to do is let go to avoid pain. It's the holding on that hurts us. This blog was my example to you, but the point here is to let you know that it is of great importance to know when to let go and when to hold on! In every stage of life, relationship, job, situation, etc. If you hold on to a hurtful situation for too long you will end up beaten up, bruised, and hurting. It is necessary to let go sometimes.