RECIPE FOR 1 ARMY INFANTRYMAN

 The making of a soldier takes many ingredients, most of them bitter and difficult.
Not everyone is cut out to withstand the rigorous training. Many fail. 

We are delighted that our son passed with flying colors and has became a man, stronger than when he enlisted and stronger than he could have been on his own.

 The ingredients for an Infantryman:

Take 1 raw boy from the country or the city who has a desire to serve his country.
Mix with some very harsh drill sergeants.
Make him work almost 24/7, working out, training, doing laundry, cleaning barracks, night guard duty and a myriad of other assignments.
Do not spoil with too many hours of sleep.
Feed him a carefully planned diet with a balance of the right amount of protein and carbs to build muscle and generate energy.
When he is out training in the field, feed him MREs.
Have him sleep outside in the freezing cold during part of the training and work out in pre dawn hours every morning, arising at 4:30 a.m.
Make him march and march and march.
“Smoke” him and his platoon by giving them difficult physical punishments if there is even 1 thing the drill sergeant doesn’t like.
Break them down physically, mentally and emotionally to see who can and who cannot survive.
Mix him with boys from all walks of life and expect them to become battle buddies, helping each other. The group is only as strong as the weakest member.
Mix with other trainings with guns, tear gas, barbed wire, grenades, climbing towers, confidence courses, foxholes, mud, blazing sun and even tornado like weather out in the field at night.
Teach him respect for his superior leaders and instill within him intense discipline.
Honor him with his cross gun pin by literally sticking the pin into the flesh until it draws blood.
 Bake and cool often, preparing this soldier for all kinds of conditions soldiers can encounter.
Award him after he has passed all of the training and testing with a blue rope to wear around his shoulder, signifying the coveted “turning blue” braid.
Send him to his next training or duty post to continue becoming a more qualified soldier who is dedicated to serving his country.
The result: A man. A man with purpose. A man with passion for his country and a man focused on giving his best. A many who is strong. Army strong.

See how this recipe for PFC Stucki turned out after 3 months of training.

Color Energy: Red



Photo Credit- Photos by MJ

VITALITY, COURAGE, SELF CONFIDENCE
Use red when you need to meet a demanding day, or when you feel drained of energy. The color red provides the power from the earth and gives energy on all levels. It connects us to our physical body. Everything that is to be commenced needs the life vitality of red.

Personality Traits: Courageous, confident, humanistic, strong-willed, spontaneous, honest, and extroverted.

The Root Chakra is governed by the red energy.

Photo credit- Photos by MJ

Color Energy

Photo credit-Photos by MJ

Our most important energy source is light, and the entire spectrum of colors is derived from light. Sunlight, which contains all the wavelengths, consists of the entire electromagnetic spectrum that we depend on to exist on this planet.

Light flows through our eyes and triggers hormone production, which influences our entire complex biochemical system. This biochemical system then affects our being. And light does not travel alone. Light travels with other energies as illustrated on the right.

We know that each color found in the visible light spectrum has its own wavelength and its own frequency, which produces a specific energy and has a nutritive effect. We know some rays can be dangerous if we are exposed to them. But the visible light, the rainbow, has a soothing effect on us.

Photo credit- Photos by MJ

Light consists of the seven color energies: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. Each color is connected to various areas of our body and will affect us differently emotionally, physically, and mentally. By learning how each color influences us, we can effectively use color to give us an extra boost of energy when we need it.

If you wake up in the morning with little energy, or you need to prepare for a business meeting, this is where the power of colors can help. All you have to do is reflect on the type of day you have planned; choose the color that will help you meet the demands of the day; and then absorb that particular color. It's like fueling your system with the right kind of gas.

Each week we will focus on a color and its energy. Watch for details in future blog posts to harness the power of color in your life!

Our Future is as bright as our Faith

Photo credit- Photos by MJ

In the predawn hours, our flight passed over cities and freeways connecting cities.  Appearing as small as ants, cars were already making their morning commute. Even though we were thousands of feet in the air,  I noticed the headlights shining brightly from each car, some expanding to the car ahead and some shining what seemed barely in front of these miniature looking automobiles.

I thought of faith and how although we can never see far into the future, we must keep moving forward.  We must exude confidence and be certain of our course with faith in the future, in our hopes and our dreams.  An inpsired man recently stated, “Our future is as bright as our faith.”  What a comforting thought.  Although the “headlights” in our lives only shine a short distance in front of us each day, they can shine.  Fear negates the light, bringing with it doubt and worry.  Faith and fear cannot co-exist.  Our lights can shine as brightly as we set them to shine.  We must operate with faith and confidence to squeeze the most joy out of each day.  Shine forth, lights of our life.  Shine forth brightly!