Training – What you have in your hand . . . is what you want . . . Otherwise you’d have something else . . .

 

Long ago . . . far away . . . in another life I was a “Personal Growth Facilitator”. Think of it as a Drill Instructor for your head. My wife and I found this coursework out of need. We were emotionally recovering from her cancer and after a number of years we weren’t doing a very good job of it. A friend invited us to come to a “Guest Night”. Simply, things learned in about a years’ worth of course work literally saved us.

It was scary stuff to those on the “outside”. It was the time of “est”, and “T” and other types of guru lead courses – our friends were concerned for us. But they also saw things were working better for us as well.

Those who have met me or know me have little problem seeing the “asshole” side of my nature. Let’s call it DIRECT!!! And that personality trait is one of the primary ingredients needed to be a “Personal Growth Facilitator”. The company we went to recruited me to assist in coursework so for around 3 years or so I would stand in front of a room full of folks in the exact same spot I/we had been a few years earlier and I would assist them in primarily becoming brutally honest with themselves on where they were in their life, how they were acting and gave them a hand in picking a way out of their current minefield.

One woman sat in the back row with about 30+ other folks and bitched, whined, fidgeted . . . until I asked her a simple question . . . “How long have you been a bitch?”

Yep, the coursework was like that . . . So be forewarned . . . I intend this post to be “DIRECT”.

I write this the day following the San Bernardino terrorist attack. 14 dead, 21 wounded. Terrorists dead, house full of bombs, ammunition, info linking them to international terrorists . . . Jihad visits America. Perhaps the first of a Paris like attack on our home soil – there will be more. Neighbors noticed 6 Middle Eastern males visiting the house, taking delivery of large boxes but said nothing because RACISIM! Think “clock boy” $15 MILLION law suit – no wonder they shut up. Short story to this episode – what was once safely kept overseas is now part of our daily life. You need to move to “acceptance” fast, today, now, this instant . . . and make some adjustments in your life.

What you have in your hand . . . is what you want! Otherwise you’d have something else!

But . . . but . . . I have a carry permit . . . I carry once in awhile . . . I probably could have stopped them . . .

You’re dead!!!

Yep, got my permit, got that baby in the car should I need it . . .

You’re dead!!!

Yep, got my permit, to a basic pistol course, going to look at a holster and some more coursework this summer . . .

You’re dead!!!

Man, watched the coolest video the other day, got that new DVD course, gonna get a new holster for Christmas . . .

You’re dead!!!

Or going back to a conversation with a friend a few summers ago . . . “I got a new gun right after I got my permit, don’t think I fired more than half a box through it.”

You’re dead!!!

Yep, I took some really cool coursework this past summer, been to the range a couple of times, think I might just start carrying . . .

You’re dead!!!

Tell you what . . . every time I go to one of “those” places I strap on my gun!!!

You’re dead!!!

I really take this stuff serious! I’ve taken a couple courses, do my best to get to the range a couple times a year . . .

You’re dead!!!

I don’t carry my gun around too much anymore it’s to . . . hard to work . . . big . . . heavy . . . I don’t really know how to run it . . . I live in a pretty safe area . . .

You’re dead!!!

Get the idea?? So, if you’d met these two terrorist shooters, what would you have been up against?

Each carried a version of a .223/5.56 semiautomatic carbine.

Each carried a sidearm.

Each apparently had plate carries for spare magazines – I can’t find firm reports if they had plates inserted or not.

They placed remote controlled explosives in the building but failed to detonate them.

They fired . . . I WANT YOU TO HEAR THIS CLEARLY . . . 73 rounds (provided current round counts were accurate). One more time . . . 73 rounds.

They killed 14 . . .

They wounded 21 . . .

Total causality count in the building . . . 35 . . .

That body count comes from training, focus, dedication, clear intent . . .

That is your opponent. Forget the drive by shooter, the snatch and grab, the quickstop robbery, the restaurant holdup . . .

And focus of the shooter that is focused, dedicated, clear and skilled . . . THAT is your new threat as of today.

So let’s go back to the top . . .

What you have in your hand . . . is what you want! Otherwise you’d have something else!

If you aren’t as good as these two shooters . . . if you don’t carry . . . if you can’t hit what you need too . . . if you let every excuse in the world come between you and good coursework and frequent/consistent/focused training . . .

You’re dead!!

Nope, life shouldn’t be like this. Nope it isn’t fair. Yep, that’s what cops are for (their response time was apparently sub-5 minute for first on scene). But the nasty little secret is that when the shit hits the fan . . .

NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE YOU!!!

The first minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes . . . or in the case of my home . . . the first 45 minutes . . . is on YOU!

So you can lie to yourself all you want, you can tell yourself all the stories you want, you can pretend all you want . . . But “What you have in your hand . . . is what you want! Otherwise you’d have something else!”

If you can’t run your gun . . . if you can’t get your hits . . . if you don’t know cover from concealment . . . if you don’t carry . . . if, if, if . . . THAT is, indeed what you want – because THAT is what you have in your “hand”. You DON’T want to carry, you DON’T want to shoot better, you DON’T want to learn how to use your environment, you DON’T want to defend your life, you DON’T want to defend the life of your child or spouse or friend . . . so stop lying to yourself and stop feeling all warm and comfy with your permit and your gun home in the safe. Because . . .

You’re dead!!

Honest to goodness folks, get off your asses, smell the coffee, do the work, spend the money, invest the time, train your butts off . . . cause this situation is simply not going to bet better.

Help is not coming . . . it’s all on you . . . please, be ready . . .