SERE Training: Escape

This is only an introduction to SERE Training. The real things starts later, once you have progressed further down the Warpath.

Time Warfare

When I was getting ready to discuss this concept, I mistakenly called it time warFATE and I kinda chuckled at that because the whole reason we get really uncomfortable with the amount of time we have or the amount of time something is taking is because we already have a predestined outcome (aka a destiny) that we have accepted and things aren’t going how we thought it would go. So we go to war with time. We either use time as a weapon to try and win back time or we straight up fight against time by trying to circumvent tasks that inevitably take time for completion.

Anyway, I want to start with this George Carlin clip. What I really took away from it is that we don’t get a say on time because it has been established beforehand. But that doesn’t mean we are stuck on some path we have no control over. It means that we have to be intentional.

At the end of the day, warfare is conducted with a heavy reliance on logistics – you need to get what you need when you need it. You have to start those processes early. I mean, if it’s Fall time and you’re trying to get a hundred thousand winter coats, that’s already going to take herculean effort and now there’s a time crunch.

Again, time is a FACTOR in logistics but time itself should not be considered a commodity.

There are some people who believe that, just because something takes a lot of time, it has more worth. I call this: Time-worship.

There are some who possess a desire – actually, an incessant need – to save time!

The compulsion to be productive at all times, lest we miss some opportunity, means we are entrenched in Time Warfare. We succumb to fear.

What are we are afraid of?

We are afraid that that we’ll look up in ten years and realize, “I’ve wasted my time.“

“I haven’t got to where I thought I would be…

“..all my efforts have been in vain.”

Upon the warpath, there are instances in which time seems to slow down. Minutes stretch and warp, and our perception of time is distorted.

Other times, hours seem to pass so quickly and we cannot seem to find enough time to complete tasks.

Remember that we are constantly developing relationships. One relationship we too often neglect is that with ourselves. One vital component in developing a relationship is Respect. Do you respect your time?

Study the Time Management Matrix by Stephen R. Covey…

Those tasks within the first quadrant require immediate action – you have forgotten to pay a bill or a scheduled meeting is about to start.

Quadrant two, while not pressing, remains a matter of high importance. This is where you want to spend most of your time. Why? Because urgency is cancerous to humans. It is not healthy. It evokes and sustains a sympathetic response in the body.

Quadrant three is where we sometimes become sequestered and squander our time. Tasks in this quadrant are best described as busy-work, and do not help our Cause.

Quadrant four is a little deceptive, because while there is not much to be gained by activities within this quadrant, there are some benefits from dwelling there occasionally.

Ultimately, when we raise the white flag of Surrender and end Time Warfare, we come closer to actual Freedom. We achieve Peace.

Consider the scene from Doctor Strange (2016), in which Doctor Strange engages in a perpetual confrontation with Dormammu. “Dormammu, I’ve come to bargain…”

When Time becomes a weapon used against us, it is best to disengage.

Often, we become trapped in a routine. Break the cycle.

Other times, we become trapped in thinking patterns, which are toxic to ourselves and others around us. These Thinking Errors are predictable…

Predictability gets soldiers killed.

…They are the result of poor self-leadership, or a lack of Discipline.

Take control of your life. Exercise time control, or time management, and decide where to concentrate your efforts. Avoid Time Warfare.