BCT: Choose To LOVE
When preparing yourself for basic training, you want to know exactly what to expect. Your mind circles with constant anticipation and stress imagining the worst outcomes. You look up video after video to become familiar with what you could be going through in the coming weeks. You've heard horror stories of terrifying drill sergeants, endless blisters, and especially the people in your platoon who will frustrate you without fail.
Well...that doesn't help the nerves at all. Lucky for me, after my last drill before basic, I was able to go to Mass with my Catholic friends from my unit. After Mass, we went to Perkins to eat before we all had to say goodbye. Our conversation went down many different paths, but it consisted mostly of their own experiences with basic. I am very grateful for the time that I got to sit and listen to the many stories they had to share. Each one calmed my different anxieties about what was to come. I laughed and learned through each story they told over the BEST breakfast skillets. But there was one in particular that stood out to me the most...
After various stories of sleepless nights at reception, endless blisters, and normal interactions with Drill Sergeants, my friend Evan said something that changed my entire perspective of what I was about to go do. He told me that the advice he was given before leaving was to offer up the pain. Yes, this was life-changing for me while at basic compared to the battle buddies I had suffering around me, but what he said after that was what changed the game completely...
I don't remember word for word of what he said, but I do remember how it changed the way I thought those next 10 weeks were going to go. He said something along the lines of "as Catholics, moments like these teach us how to love..." This is the perfect opportunity for us to love. The perfect opportunity for us to choose to love those who frustrate us beyond words. To love those who mess up and get all of us smoked. We all mess up at basic… Nobody gets through unnoticed. I took his words with me and challenged myself to live them out.
Nobody is perfect, and that has never been more true to me since I arrived at basic training. The people you meet right away at reception make you second guess your decision of joining the Army. I constantly thought, "Oh boy, I do not belong here," and I'm sure that's what others thought of me as well. I was quiet, innocent, and "too pure" as some females told me later on. I spent that crazy time in reception taking it all in and observing those I would be spending the summer with. (I have no words to express the chaos of reception other than FEMALES ARE CRAZY...) My first impression was how in the world was I supposed to love these drama-filled females. Oh Lord, please help me...
At the start, I often got discouraged in an environment full of hate. Everyone was picking on each other and the various strong attitudes were constantly clashing. I longed for a moment of peace. A moment without 65 females screaming over each other at toe-to-line or during our shower time was hard to come by. With the chaos of transitioning into a platoon of 60 trainees, and constantly getting "dropped" or "smoked" (also known as corrective training) for the smallest mistakes, I didn't know exactly how to go about spreading the love that the Lord requested of me.
When my quiet kindness began to show, I started to gain the trust of a few of my battles who stood around me. As the days went on, more began to notice, and soon I was a trusted squad leader who gained the respect of her platoon without having to raise her voice or say any unnecessary swear words. With God on my side, we loved each of my battle buddies including any flaw or frustrating behavior that they openly displayed.
Looking back on it all now, I know that the Lord spoke to me through my friend who I trusted, and prepared my heart for the amount of love I needed to give. I met people from very different backgrounds, all with their own stories. Some looking for a way to get out of the situation they are in, and some just trying to build a future. In my own story, I was there because I wanted to play music for my country while being able to attend school. I met battle buddies who didn't have the loving family I did or the huge number of supportive friends that I had back home. Some didn't have anyone to cheer them on. Knowing all of this, in addition to the words I was holding on to, I knew that the Lord had placed me there to let my battle buddies know that someone cared.
Because I was able to choose love over frustration, the bonds I made with my battle buddies are unlike anything I've ever experienced. We went through hell together. We experienced pain and misery that no words could ever describe. That bond was built off of mutual trust and perseverance. All it takes is the awareness of your natural frustrations, and the choice to turn it into something positive. Something as small as an encouraging, “We got this, keep going,” as you are in the front leaning rest position, (for my non-military friends this is when we get smoked in the pushup position), waking up a few minutes earlier to make sure everyone has their beds made perfectly, taking out the trash in the bay when nobody else volunteers, or affirming a battle buddy when they finally get it right and encouraging them even when they are wrong. None of the deep friendships I have today would've been possible if I had any anger or hate in my heart during any of the moments that we relied on each other to keep going forward.
Like Evan said, as Catholics, this is the perfect opportunity for us to love. Choose love, free yourself of the grudges you hold on others, and EAT BREAKFAST SKILLETS AT PERKINS! Just kidding. But to choose love, you become a witness to others of the love the Lord has for us.
