Don't Jump to Conclusions

One of the best feelings in the world is to know someone is watching over you.  You have more confidence to do your job, and more peace of mind about your safety.  Even if that person is 10,000 miles away.  My great uncle John was in the army too, in Korea.  He worked for an artillery battery as a radioman.  So many things have changed since then but most of it is the same I have found.  His advice is just as relevant today as it was 60 years ago.  Each piece just tells me how important it is to remember the little things about my job.  To watch the corners, to trust your instincts and use all your senses.  He also told me to "Take your time... don't jump to a conclusion ... and try not to rush into a situation without ample intelligence."  Of all the advice he gave, this is probably the best.  We as young people are so often ready to run into any situation ready to act but without direction.  I have been guilty of this impulse before and hope to learn from my mistake.  Hearing this wisdom from so long ago just tells me that I am not so different than the generations before me.


To a different subject, it has snowed here and quite significantly.  I expected the snow, although I did not expect it to turn quickly to mud and melt so fast.  The people who live in this country are a tough bunch and capable, although completely incapable of agreeing to anything.  The sense that locals might be able to govern themselves is becoming unlikely.  Even a simple agreement can turn around abruptly creating bad blood and distrust among neighbors.  It is difficult to deal with a country so wrapped up in itself.  If not for Al-Qaeda, I wonder if this country would ever involve itself with the outside world.  They dislike most all foreigners whether they are from the west or not.  If they don't trust their neighbors, how can they be expected to trust foreigners?  But the way people think here is not how they think in the West.  It is difficult to follow their train of thought, but if I can then it may go a long way to addressing my enemy.  It is always difficult, getting into the mind of someone else.  To see their motivations and goals is always a challenge, to predict their movements is even more of a challenge.  But anyone who knows me well knows that I love a challenge and I eat them for breakfast.  Just as my Uncle John says, "Life has a way of telling you which way to go and not to go"