This is one of those random philosophical musings that happens at 2 oclock in the morning when you should be sleeping but are too stupid to know any better. However, it was the fact that I thought over this fact and then discussed it with my room mate (who is also a cadet) that I came up with the basis for this post.
It's 2 am, and I need to be at Ranger Challenge PT at 5 am. Yet here I am, wide awake, knowing full well I have a smoke session and a full day of work and classes in the morning. I've been doing this throughout college and ROTC and I'm still pulling a 3.87 GPA, as is my room mate (and we both have different majors). I also find evidence of this in non-cadet friends and girls I date. They're always so busy and concerned with sleep and getting work done and their not being enough hours in the day, etc. I always counter with "So what, I have PT at 5 and I can still make time for friends/girls/dinner etc." However, normal people just don't understand that. I had a Tyler Durden moment when talking to a girl, and it may sound arrogant but it's just a fact of life. She's always stressing about school, family and work. I asked her to come unwind and grab a cup of coffee. She said she wanted to but couldn't because of XYZANDAMILLIONOTHERPROBLEMSOHMYGODLIFESUCKS! I just said to her, "You worry too much. I don't buy my books, I don't sleep, I eat whatever I want, I work my job and go to all my classes and I still get it done. I am free in all the ways you are not." She was dumbfounded, not because I was a jerk about it (I wasn't), I was just being honest. That lead me to the following realization:
Officers, nay, all Soldiers are a cut above the rest. Although I'm not either yet, I will be an officer in just over 9 months, and I'm cut from the same cloth as they are. So are all my cadet friends. We get so much more done on so much less than anyone else and we still manage to have integrity (meaning wholeness of life).
America is in good hands. George Orwell (allegedly) said it the best with this quote:
We sleep safely in our beds at night because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.I will be one of those men very, very soon. So will my friends. Those men are out there, right now. They're shitting in holes. They're shivering at night. They're dodging mortars and bullets and RPGs. They're not eating or sleeping for days.
They are a cut above the rest.
Enjoy your sleep America, the Army's got you.
