What's up, guys? Welcome back to the three of seven podcasts. It's just me today. This is a special episode since you guys convinced me to release.

Well, today Sunday's episode early, which was the recap of the team PT. I understand why you guys wanted to hear that because.

Yeah, those are funny episodes, but today's episodes a little more serious and I just wanted to put this out there with something Brooke asked me to kind of talk about on the podcast and I think it's worthwhile.

And we'll start with a lesson that I used to teach and I think this lesson has some truth. I think a lot of truth in it.

But but I found throughout the last year and a half or so as our culture has changed quite a bit. I found that some aspects of this lesson are not always going to apply.

So let's start with this is something that I wrote a while back to try to define this lesson. The lessons title, choose your battle.

So I'll just read through this with you and I think you'll understand it. We had been exposed for hours to cold driving wind and rain without proper gear or shelter.

We had to keep moving not only to complete our mission, but to simply stay warm enough to survive. I turned back and looked into the eyes of my teammates.

He was cold very cold. He began to shiver uncontrollably jack hammering. We called it in the seal teams. His hip flexors began to lock up impairing his ability to move as hypothermia crept into his body and his core was trying to retain the blood to protect its vital organs from shutting down.

I saw the panic in his face. His mind was racing battling against the cold hypothermia is a scary thing dangerous and painful. It will consume your focus and steal your remaining energy in a battle that cannot be won by standing still still in pain and fear.

All right. I captured his attention for a moment. I tell my teammate stop fighting against the cold. You cannot win. Let it pass through you.

He takes my advice and like the warrior he was, he began to breathe easier. In a single moment, he made the choice to free up a well of energy that was being used ineffectively to fight a losing battle against the cold.

The fear and panic began to subside. His vision started to clear and my next command was to refocus that newly freed energy and to move within five minutes of constant movement.

Hypothermia completely dissipated and my teammates words were I'm back from the dead.

I learned a valuable lesson during my hours upon hours in the cold water of the Pacific Ocean in seal training when I would fight against the cold it would only gain more and more power over my situation eventually rendering me stagnant and miserable.

But if I could redirect my available energy toward a solution to the cold like movement which naturally generates body heat only then could I improve my situation.

So let's take this lesson from the natural elements and apply it to life every day I ask myself am I battling against something that I might not agree with or am I battling for the things that I have found to be true helpful and effective in my own life.

Our energy is a precious thing. We only have a certain amount available in our tank each day.

Every interaction every spoken word every thought that we dwell upon every action taken is a withdrawal from that tank of energy that we have.

It takes far more of my precious energy each day to tear down or battle against the things I don't believe in than it does to build up or promote the things that I love and I have found and that I have found to be true.

In nearly every circumstance in my life I have had the greatest impact on the things that I hate by focusing on and fostering the things that I love.

Such as the story we just discussed I could have never effectively defeated the cold which I hate being cold by focusing on the cold but when I made the decision to foster warmth something that I love I inadvertently defeated the cold.

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