Sleeping Bravely
Our country is in the hands of your babies.
Maybe you have been privileged to stand in a line at an airport waiting for your turn to ask a simple question or to make a quick request. Just then, someone runs to the front of the line and decides their question takes precedent.
A week ago on Saturday morning at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City, the line at “The Coffee Bean” was plenty long. Yet, a man urgently charged to the counter to bypass about twenty caffeine-needy people.
Not again. What’s wrong with people?
But I was the one who was wrong. This man turned out to be anything but rude or inconsiderate.
“I want to pay for the coffee of the soldiers over there,” he said, pointing to a group of four U.S. military people waiting for their lattes, outfitted in their full dress uniforms — that’s the man and the soldiers in the photo.
The man placed the money on the counter and called over to the soldiers, “Thank you for your service.”
The leader of these soldiers stepped forward. “Thank you for the lattes,” she replied.
It was a rare pay-it-forward opportunity.
My attention turns to the outside of the coffee shop where I spot some 100 other soldiers ready to travel home this morning. They are on their way to see family and friends. I’m sure they cannot wait to get to their final destinations.
Yet, here in the airport, their heads are not buried in their cell phones. No ear buds or video games. Instead, these soldiers are immersed in real conversations, handshakes, and hugs.
An hour later, on my flight to Detroit, I walk past ten of these soldiers on my way to my own seat at the back of the plane. Each soldier is in a deep sleep. Yet, their ties are not loosened. Not a single button unbuttoned.
They look so young. They ARE so young.
For many of us, the sight of a uniformed solider instills a sense of safety and security.
But, at this moment, they no longer need to stand guard. They slumber like babies. They are exhausted and seem vulnerable beneath uniforms earned through strength and readiness.
There is magic in this contradiction of extremes.
Just as a strong bridge pulls at the foundation of its two ends, I’m grateful for the readiness and togetherness of these sleeping soldiers… and for the man who bought them coffee.
With gratitude,
Joe
Hi, I’m Joe, the owner of 5 With Joe Performance Coaching. My clients are leaders, organizations, and teams who utilize my Olympic Gold Medal performance strategies and 40 years of navigating whitewater river rapids to streamline decision making and actions when engaged in complicated river currents of business and life.
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