Firefighter Self Rescue

Chapter 1. Who wants to be average? You may consider yourself to be “Average”. I used to think this same thing of myself. I felt that what I had was what I deserved. But then I realized that I don’t want to be average. Here are some views on average that you may want to take a moment to consider. “The average person thinks he isn’t.” ~ Father Larry Lorenzoni Alfred North Whitehead said that “when you’re average, you’re just as close to the bottom as you are to the top”. And one last view of average is that average is the highest degree of poor. First and foremost I would like to urge you to cut out the talk of average right NOW. You are a firefighter, an engineer, Captain, Chief or Paramedic. You are not average! Those of us who work around the clock during a major catastrophe; who lose sleep night after night on a regular basis; who spend several days a month completely away from our families are NOT “Average” to begin with. So if you are the one who thinks you’re average, you can now begin to see yourself a little differently. And if you’re one of those who are just getting by as being average amongst your peers but you think you’re not, you just may want to examine your real standing and develop some new goals. See, both ends of the spectrum are dangerous roads to traverse. Why? Because we were not made to just get by! You and me and the next guy all have an amazing ability to “go forth and conquer”. We all have an innate ability built right into us to dream and to reach and to work and to succeed. The problem is, there are far too many of us who settle for the average life; and then complain about what we are getting out of that life. We give minimum effort but really want maximum results. If you haven’t already figured it out, that mindset doesn’t work very well. You may have heard the phrase “water chooses the path of least resistant’s”...Well let me tell you folks; humans are even worse! Are you nodding in agreement yet? We’re all guilty of this. There aren’t many people who are 100% happy with their standing in life. This could be professionally speaking or financially speaking. It could pertain to your physical health and abilities or your mental and spiritual fitness. The point is, within almost everyone is a spark saying “Do More!” So why is it that this spark doesn’t ignite a fire within every person to become all they can be? Why is it that some of us will stay planted in the same spot for years, even when our roots are drying up and dying? Before we can pick up and replant ourselves into a new and better life, we have to understand what makes us shy away from the very changes that will make us happy. Think about it; you have a desire to be successful in some way. You also had some desire to serve; that’s why you are in the occupation you are in. This combination alone sets you up to experience success in your life. Oh, I’m going to sidetrack for a minute. When I talk about success, I don’t necessarily mean financial. A lot of people assume that success equals riches. But riches come in many forms and are designed to fulfill the needs and desires of the individual. What I perceive as success may be far different than how you view success. To some people, physical fitness success equals 2% body fat; while others look at their lab values and overall activity level as a sign of physical wellness. You get the idea. The bottom line is that success equals happiness. Whatever it is that makes you happy and content is what you achieve successfully. We’ve established that this can be in any area of your life. Since we all want to be happy, why do we make it so hard on ourselves? Why, when all it really takes is a little bit of extra effort, do we not reach those peaks of success that we so desire? The answers are varied; but this might give you a little insight. It has been said that by the time a child reaches the age of 4, they have heard the word “No” 35 times more than they have heard “Yes”! This isn’t my way of saying that our shortcomings are our parent’s faults. It’s not that. However, society as a whole has a way of shaping young minds in order to develop a sense of general decorum. If there were simply no rules, we may have sheer chaos and people running amuck throughout our cities. What this “teaching” does, however, is steals a part of our zest for life. Children have a way of learning; they have a natural ability to succeed. They learn to walk and talk and eat. These are natural instincts that we were all born with. If no one taught you to walk, you would still do it. Why? Because that drive to DO has been built into your mind and body. There are things you are meant to do in your life and you have been given the necessary abilities to achieve those dreams that live inside of you. Digging a little deeper, the book The Four Agreements talks about how, as youngsters, our need to please those we love sent us into a dark path leading to self-hatred. Because we wanted to make those we loved happy with us, we developed a picture in our minds of the perfect person we were supposed to be. Well, none of us can live up to the image we created. Some lucky ones, maybe who lack a self awareness, didn’t envision an image of themselves that they would never live up to. They simply accepted who they were and went on to live generally happy lives. If you can relate at all to bashing yourself for not being who you think you should be, I’m going to urge you right now to stop the nonsense. Develop a new thought; a thought that acknowledges that EVERY person is simply the best they can be on any given day. If today you weren’t the best you could be, then tomorrow is a new day to learn how to be better. But really, getting rid of the mental image of “you” (which is typically WAY off base!) can be so freeing that you begin to take flight towards your goals almost immediately. The road to true success (and happiness) in life can be full of what seem like roadblocks. The conditioning of our childhood does play a large part in how far we go in life. The thoughts that we think are embedded deep within our subconscious; and come straight from those youthful days long ago. This may be the largest obstacle that you have to overcome. Changing your thinking can be a difficult thing to do! But I think John C. Maxwell put his finger on it when he said “you are the way you are because that’s the way you want to be. If you really wanted to be any different, you’d be in the process of changing right now!” Yes, I just put you on the spot. Years ago, I put myself on the spot too. It wasn’t fun – the discovery that I could be doing more to be successful and happy. But I found that we all have barriers and obstacles. Everyone has an obstacle (or several obstacles) to overcome. Those who get over their obstacles are those you see in movies, on tv, writing books and forming companies. This, of course, is the extreme. We are not all after fame or riches. But I just want to get the point across to you that you are not unique in the fact that you have internal struggles hindering your success. Ok so that may sound like a bit of bad news. You’ve been called out for not reaching your full potential and for creating an unrealistic image of yourself! You’ve been told that you have that age-old curse of potential. Potential is the thing lives abundantly in graveyards the world over. Potential can be a burden and a blessing, depending on how you handle it. The great thing about bad news is that there is usually good news that comes along with it. This is just one of those instances. The good news in terms of success as it relates to your life is that it doesn’t matter where you start. It only matters where you finish! The end result is the goal; it is what we can reach for together, through the three simple rules that have helped me to reach a higher potential than I was reaching in the early days