Check Your Azimuth

Calamity strikes.  It doesn’t matter how often I try to avoid it on this journey called “life”- it happens.  I remember as a young barely twenty something Specialist in the Army I learned the most valuable life lesson in the Primary Leadership Defensive Course (PLDC).  The course is designed to teach useful leadership skills before a promotion to Sergeant.  My goals were clear.  My drive was fierce.  My confidence was solid.  I was determined to become a non-commissioned officer and forge through on a fast track career and leader in the Army, and this assessment would be a steppingstone to learning how be more confident as a leader.  One of the last tasks that needed to be mastered was land navigation.  I was armed with a compass and a map marked with several points over a span of miles.  As with most Army tests, there was a time limit to complete the task by going to each marked point and copying the markings on a sign.  There were the “right” signs, signs not plotted on my map, and there were decoy signs.  I had to ensure all the points were correct and that I made it to the end point before time was up.

It seemed as simple as beginning at the starting point and trekking through to the end point.  It couldn’t be that difficult. Right?  In fact, I reasoned that thousands of soldiers went through and passed every year.  Why should I be any different? “Go time” started at O’dark thirty and the terrain was brutal.  Location was in Hawaii and while the state is gorgeous, the mountains, gulches, rain, clay, and wildlife are often unforgiving.  The incline of the mountains alone required me to live the “mind over matter” motto. Mentally, I had the triumphant end in mind and it looked glorious; I had envisioned successfully reaching the end as one of the top five students and got the coveted “go” as passing confirmation.  The physical was a different story.  I mapped my points with a clear direction and planned to meet my goal uninterrupted.  However, the rain came pouring down making my boots lag with every muddy step and after I had found my first point confidently, I moved forward towards my second.  With my compass drawn, I went along my planned route and reached the destination with no sign.  Panic set it in because I was losing time and I now I had to make it up; my confidence wavered.  Horrified, I re-plotted my point and realized that I had screwed it up.  I set out at a double-time (run) to gain time.  As I ran along, I came to a huge obstacle.  The gulch was deeper than I had calculated, and the rain had caused the water to rise.  Now I was behind in time and faced with a catastrophe. I immediately realized that I was in danger of failing the entire test by not making it to the finish line with the correct points.  It sucked.  My heart sunk and my stomach felt like it was going to fall right out of my body. This is not what I expected nor planned.  When I was younger and something discouraging or unfortunate happened to me, my grandma used to tell me, “Mija, sit and cry for yourself for five minutes. Then that’s it!  Get up and keep going.”   I had heard it much of my childhood and I decided to follow the advice.  I pulled out my compass and I did an azimuth check.  An azimuth check is a military term used exactly as stated.  You pull out your compass, check the azimuth and reorient a way around the obstacle to successfully reach the goal/end point.

I came in way under time for the land navigation test, was the second soldier to finish the task in my class, and all my points were correct.  My confidence soared and I was on my way to becoming an competent leader.  What was even more important?  I learned an invaluable life lesson.  Stuff happens.  Circumstances can knock you out.  Thoughts of failure creep in.  It’s at that pivotal moment that one must decide to get up and forge through to meet the end point/goal if he/she wants to succeed.  I may not be able to control my circumstance, but I can choose how I respond to it. I can still get to my goal successfully.  My life journey rarely looks the way I envision it- as an an easy path gently set before me. Life’s “map” is fluid and it’s awfully unpredictable; it can be full of joy or depleted from sorrow or somewhere in between.  But when calamity, hurt, betrayal, and disappointment happen, I ensure I cry for a few minutes, then get up with grit, and conduct an “azimuth check.”   Things may not always go my way, but I can surely regroup and triumph to my goal…...just differently…. and maybe, just maybe, the route and end results wind up being better.   

Written by Jennifer