Faith Hope Courage: Never Ring The Bell
Despair.
Dismay.
At one time, I had it all.
Despite holding on to hope as a teenager, my sole desire was to be an entrepreneur, making a million a day, if not following my dream of playing professional football. I distinctly remember believing that if I wasn’t a millionaire by 25, I had no reason to live.
Then one day, in college, I heard two guys talking about Navy SEALs. The more far-fetched the story, I couldn’t help but get more intrigued. Remember, back in the early seventies, few people even knew about the Navy SEALs. After work that day, I called a family friend who was a reservist Navy Recruiter, and like any reputable recruiter has a habit of doing, he said he would swing by that night. Hours later, I told him that I wanted to be a Navy SEAL. To appease my mother, he then proceeded to tell me every reason NOT to become a SEAL. He told me that only two or three in every ten make it through, many recruits die in training, etc… but oddly enough, it made me want it more.
Once I raised my right hand, there was no turning back. I failed the swim test twice in Navy basic boot camp to even be eligible to attend BUD/S, Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL training. However, miraculously, I somehow passed the third and final swim test and was on my way to Coronado, CA.
I graduated from BUD/S Class 89, the class behind the famed - "The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday".
Fast-forward 40+ years, and after achieving all my financial dreams as a successful business entrepreneur, I have the big house, a beautiful wife, and four adorable kids… everything I would ever want. Since I had it all, I asked God, "Is this it? I've achieved all my dreams, yet I am still empty."
Since then, I have learned that if you challenge God, you are ushering in a whole new set of lessons ...
It was early one August morning when Evan, my second oldest son, rushed into my office breathlessly, spewing at me that my then twenty-one-year-old son Chris was not breathing. After attempting CPR and receiving no results, Chris, who struggled with depression, took his life.
Then, two years later, to that exact day, my doctor uttered the words, "You have cancer." After completing chemo and radiation, I found myself to have been in remission. Approximately a year later, I returned to my oncologist’s appointment, receiving a fabulous report. As I was traveling home, I would begin running a fever. It was then I would come to find my diagnosis, Parsonage-Turner syndrome (PTS). PTS is when the nerve endings in your brachial plexus die accompanied by muscle atrophy. The pain turned out to be more painful than cancer, chemo, and radiation together.
Life would not end there; I could go on and on with my life events, but I believe you have gotten my point.
Life can go from high-fiving from a mountain top to your lowest lows, in a single moment.
I have learned that to have sustainable joy in life, it can never be about me as a person. My goals. My desires. My wants. My accomplishments.
Adversity has a way of introducing us to ourselves. I, meaning me, came to realize that all the expensive things, the big house, the sleek fast car, would eventually just be tossed out. Those lies of our realities would fade, forgettable. Even the bank account no matter how many zeros. I finally realized the beauty of brokenness is learning to place trust in something larger than ourselves.
The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday: BUD/S Class 89
So what about you? What is your life purpose? Meaning? After you have experienced higher highs, and lower lows are you truly happy? Have lasting joy?
How would you respond to that call at midnight or those dreaded / infamous words spoken by your doctor that are destined to change the direction of your life?
I welcome any conversations, either with your story or mine, if you wish to contact me after reading.
For decades I believed my BUD/S class proctor who uttered the promise that if we graduated BUD/S training we'd have life by the (testicles). He was wrong.
No matter what trials or curves life throws, you're NEVER alone. There's always hope. Never ring the bell. Finish the evolution. Keep your eyes up. Focus on what is good... and every thought counts.
Not broken. Never Forgotten.
Read more about Larry Fowler's story here.
