Have you ever seen one of those old submarine movies where the sub is underwater out in the middle of the ocean? The ones where the sailors smoke cigarettes in the hull and you feel claustrophobic just watching it?
Imagine a captain with a thick, Tom Selik-esque mustache at the helm. He is calmly scanning his domain, all is quite – under control. Until suddenly a low toned ping comes from the radar and a hush sweeps over the sailors. The captain, with a furrowed brow, cocks his head to listen closer.
Ping.
A momentary gasp comes from the sailors as the captain walks over to the radar screen. Is it another submarine? Is it hostile? Could it be a friendly? Or maybe even a whale?
Ping.
In the shell of a submarine, tension builds as the radar blip closes in on the crew.
Ping.
Each ping increases in volume as the object approaches the sub.
PING.
As proximity narrows, the unrest on the ship rises.
PING.
Sailors begin nervously sweating, awaiting direction from the captain but nothing comes.
PING.
The captain knows, this is no longer in his control. It has become a waiting game to see how to react. Had he acted sooner and commanded the ship to dive or alter course, this may have been avoided.
PING!
The object is right on top of the sub. No radio contract, just silence. The crew is now waiting for the object to make its move. No one moves a muscle. Paralyzed by fear, they wait.
PING…
This scene plays out in our lives over and over again. We pretend to be in control of our lives, but we are just a ping away from the terror that comes with uncertainty.
Our Tom Selik led submarine made several mistakes and gives us a good example of what not to do in the face of uncertainty. The crew was clearly unprepared, fearful, and unable to act. In our lives, we can avoid those pitfalls by focusing on three things:
Preparation
Faith
Action
Preparation
The only thing certain in life is uncertainty. Uncertainty is a constant, even when you do not recognize its presence. It will always be looming just off your radar screen until one day...PING. How do you react to the ping?
A better question is, how do you prepare for the ping?
The Navy Seals have a saying that you do not rise to the level of your challenge, your fall to your level of preparation. Your preparation will determine your reaction.
Preparing yourself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually is a daily endeavor that takes discipline and commitment, particularly when there are no pings on your radar. When life is good, it is easy to become complacent.
The problem is, you never know what the next challenge will be or when it will arrive, but rest assured, it will come. It could be the loss of a job, a bad diagnosis, a wayward child, a business failure, an injury, a marital dispute…
No matter how much people try, you cannot avoid life’s challenges. Challenges are inevitable therefore avoidance is ineffective.
Life has a way of going sideways when you least expect it. Preparation for the obstacles starts way before you ever hear that first ping.
If your plan is to prepare for the challenge once it presents itself, its already too late.
This is the basis for the idea of becoming Better Every Day. It is not only to pursue goals and dreams, but also to be able to handle whatever life throws at you. Whatever pings on your radar.
Here are some questions to ask yourself regarding your preparation:
Are you eating well and exercising regularly?
Are you learning new things and keeping an open mind?
Are you developing your mindset and mental toughness?
Are you addressing emotional wounds or sweeping them under the rug?
Are you growing in your faith and building your relationship with God?
Preparation takes forethought and discipline. It’s difficult to prepare for an unspecified obstacle. The best way to prepare for the next ping is to consistently become Better Every Day.
Faith
Pings create uncertainty. Uncertainty means we lack control. Uncertainty and uncontrol create fear. If we add unprepared to the mix, fear can overwhelm us.
Many people believe if they shape their lives in a predictable manner, they can avoid unnecessary risks and challenges. This is a shortsighted self-preservation tactic with the aim of smoothing out the road ahead and making life a little bit easier.
Until the ping.
We are limited in how much we can control in our lives (see my post on Control) and the list is limited to our own actions and nothing else. We cannot control what happens tomorrow or what blips pop up on our radar today. We cannot control their timing, speed, size, severity, or how they will act once they reach us.
What we can control is our attitude in the face of uncertainty and our attitude should be an expression of our faith.
Yes, preparation is important as it builds confidence in our own capacity to overcome life’s obstacles. But life has a way of chipping away at our confidence and exposing our areas of weakness, insecurity, and fear.
Faith and fear are not mutually exclusive, but faith supersedes fear when you lean into the power of God.
Consider this: God is the creator of the universe, He is all knowing, all powerful and in control. Even when bad things happen, when life gets hard, He is good, He loves you, and He is with you. In fact, God says “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
His power, works best in our weakness. Isn’t that good news?
I write a lot about improving ourselves, growing and learning, becoming Better Every Day. But we are never going to be perfect. No amount of mental toughness or positive thoughts will ever replace God’s grace and power.
If we look at the context of this popular verse, we will see that Paul is asking God to take away the thorn in his side, to take away the weakness that he feels so he can become stronger and more self-sufficient.
That’s not the point.
The point is relationship and community with God. Part of our preparation, our daily pursuit of Better, needs to be growing our relationship with God. We are all human, we lack control and have limits to our physical, mental, and emotional capacity.
God does not have limitations.
When a ping sounds on the radar of your life and your heart rate jumps, your faith will be your primary weapon to combat fear. Give that fear to God, He can handle it. When you offload that fear and lean into God’s power and grace, you will be amazed with how much you can truly accomplish.
Put your faith over your fear.
Action
In the face of uncertainty, inaction is an easy default in lieu of making a tough decision or judgement call. At the sound of that first ping, the sub could have radioed, ran, dove, approached, or attacked the blip on the radar. But they didn’t.
They let the blip dictate the rules of engagement.
This was likely a result of poor preparation and a sudden rush of fear. But the whole situation could have been salvaged with a timely command to adjust course by Captain Selik.
But taking action is scary. What if you make a mistake? What if you make the wrong call? What if you fail? (Read Chase Failure). Inaction is more comfortable, easier to explain, and is the path of least resistance.
Preparing yourself and strengthening your faith prior to life’s challenges is paramount. But, just as taking action can salvage a bad situation, inaction in the face of a challenge can nullify even the best preparation or the strongest faith.
We have to act. (Read Do It) Sometimes the action is to simply stay the course. That is a viable tactic so long as the decision is not guided by fear. Rather, our preparation and our faith can guide us to remain still or stay the course.
Other times, the action is changing course, hunkering down, or going on the offensive (Read Buffalo). The possible actions can be many, but what’s important is the courage to take one.
Navy Seal and ultramarathon runner David Goggins calls this the 1-second decision. In the moment, when you have the chance to face a challenge, your decision should take one second, otherwise you risk losing your opportunity, your momentum, or your nerve.
These decisions are much easier when your preparation and your faith are strong. When you have principles and convictions on the correct course of action, you don’t need to deliberate, you just act.
Conclusion
Your radar may already be lit up with blips all over right now. If not, the pings are on their way. Life is filled with uncertainty. Are you ready?
This is not to scare you, this is to encourage you! You can do hard things. You are stronger and more capable than you think. You have a God that does His best work when you need it most.
Take a personal inventory and make adjustments where needed. Are there areas you could improve? How is your physical health? Are you mentally and emotionally well? How’s your faith and relationship with God? Are you ready to act?
Trust your preparation, stand firm on your faith, and take action.
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