Learning to Stay Positive in Basic Training

Mike Hosey, An Elder

I learned a great deal when I went to the U.S. Army’s Basic Training in the late 1980s.  My drill sergeants taught me a lot of useful things that I would need to know if I ever had to attend to combat. I learned about land navigation, how to throw grenades, how to maintain a rifle, and how to use it to kill the enemy. I learned about physical fitness, first aid in a combat zone, how to talk on a radio, and how to cover and conceal my position. Thankfully, I’ve never had to use some of those skills, nor do I ever want to.  Interestingly, the most important and most valuable thing I learned in basic training had very little to do with any specific combat technique, but has been instrumental in every domain of my life since then. I learned that if I stay mentally positive, I can get through a whole lot of difficulty, and that I can go further, and withstand far more than I initially think I can in any given hard situation. Since basic training that concept of staying positive has been reinforced by realizing the effects of negativity.  I’ve allowed myself to be negative a few times, and I’ve learned that being so will negate any abilities that I might have, and will shorten or diminish my potential to get through difficult circumstances.

My first understanding of this came in the very first week of basic training.  The course is 8 weeks long.  By the end of week one, a soldier begins to think a great deal about his family and wanting to go home. I had to force myself to stay positive.  More specifically, I had to force myself to realize that the trouble I was enduring was temporary.  And not only that, I reminded myself of the reality that making it through the temporary difficulties of basic training would open up a world of opportunity to me.  In short, the long lasting prize at the end of basic training would be greater than the temporary relief of quitting. Being controlled by a worthy goal was far more valuable than being controlled by any present temptation. This is not much different from the teachings of Paul.  Consider his letter to the churches in Rome where he advises them that their present difficulties cannot compare to the glory that will be revealed later (Romans 8:18), or when he writes to the church at Corinth that our “light and momentary” difficulties are preparing us for an eternal glory that is “beyond comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

If we focus on the difficulties wrought by our flesh and sinful natures, we will be in a world of turmoil.  But if we attain a positive mindset by focusing on the Spirit of God, we will have life and peace (Romans 8:6, Romans 12:1-2).