The Navy Seals have a saying, “The only easy day was yesterday,” meaning that what’s behind you is done, but today is going to be hard. Quit whining; face the day.
Army Rangers are taught to live by the Ranger Creed: “Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession...” Every Ranger knows they are in something that comes with hazards, but they volunteered anyway.
The bottom line is that if it were easy, everyone would do it.
NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady did an interview not long ago, saying that to be successful, you must stop complaining and blaming everyone else. "Life is about always changing and adapting to different things. Today, the world wants to blame, and shame, and guilt, and fear everything all the time," the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback said. "We would never teach our kids that, you know? We would never say, ‘This is how you’re gonna get through life the best — you’re gonna blame everyone when things don’t go right.’ … It’s not how to live a joyful life.”
He’s right. Joy never comes from complaining. The best stuff - the most rewarding events, the things that stay with you, the things that build your character — they don’t come easy. If it were easy, everyone would do it.
One of my personal heroes is Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A. He had an idea for a restaurant selling chicken sandwiches, putting customers first, and remaining closed on Sundays. He was told no one would come to a restaurant like that. He was told that valuing customers over profits wouldn’t be profitable. Today, Chick-fil-A is one of the premier fast-food giants with a multi-billion-dollar portfolio and massive brand loyalty. In his book, “Eat Mor Chik’in: Inspire More People,” Cathy said, “Chick-fil-A is what it is today because of its people, purpose and product.” But it wasn’t easy. If it were easy, everyone would’ve done it.
My wife’s grandfather, Charles Stoker, was a family legend. His story has inspired me many times. In the 1930s, he took all his savings to start a poultry supply company. He spent all he had on an old delivery wagon and a load of chicken to deliver to restaurants. On the first delivery, the car broke down in the heat of the day, and all the chickens went bad. Everything was gone. Distraught, he called his sweet wife. She was working as a telephone operator and told him she had some money saved in a coffee can at the house and he was not done. She told him to take that money and start over. It wasn’t easy. But he took that coffee can cash and built a multi-million-dollar business. Stoker’s Tenderex Farms still exists today.
I’m telling you, if it were easy, everyone would do it.
I get it. As a young Army Officer, I had the honor of attending the U.S. Army Ranger School. For several months, I waded through swamps, climbed mountains, and was sleep-deprived. I lost 30 pounds, had trench foot and frostbite, and was hospitalized at one point. Four hundred fifty people tried to get into my Ranger class. Two hundred fifty made it past the first few days. Ninety-eight graduated.
But there came a moment when I was told I would have to repeat the swamp phase, a do-over meaning weeks of more chest-deep cold water and misery. I was despondent. On a rare opportunity to call my sweet bride, I told her I didn’t know if I could do it again. If she had said, “Quit,” I would have packed my bags. But she didn’t.
“Don’t do it,” she said. “If you quit now, you will always regret it.”
She was right. I’m an Army Ranger because of my lovely wife. She put some steel in my spine, and two months later, she pinned on my Ranger tab. It was one of the worst best experiences of my life!
If it were easy, everyone would do it.
But this attitude includes our politics as well. We are in a watershed moment in American politics – call it the MAGA movement or the restoration of common-sense politics. It’s the return of values-based political discourse and conservative legislation.
But if you’ve been watching or participating, then you know this did not come easy. The attacks will keep coming, and the only easy day was yesterday.
Our role as conservatives is not to let it get taken away. Our job is to champion the good, point out the bad, demand accountability, and do the work. Preservation of this victory will not last if all we do is muster up some keyboard courage and type a retort on social media. It is not enough to yell at the TV news.
We can’t just say, “Oh good, Trump’s got it.” It takes an army to fight what the general directs. Trump may be the key figure, but we are all key players. The only easy day was yesterday. Pick your battlefield. Stake your claim. Make your stand. Choose your cause. Get involved. Do the hard thing fully knowing the hazards of your chosen profession.
Stories are not told in reverent tones of those who sat idly by. History will reflect on this time and note if we squander this victory by staying comfortable. How will future generations judge our actions … or inactions?
Do the hard thing. If it were easy, everyone would do it.
To contact Phil or request him for a speaking engagement, go to www.rightsideradio.org.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819News.com.
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