Reference Point
I have survived the helo dunker. Twice. What is the helo dunker you ask? The dunker is a metal tube that trains you how to survive a helicopter crash in the water. The cylinder of misery is about 15 feet above the water. You are strapped into a seat, wear a flight suit, boots and a helmet. The tube o’ death is lowered into the water and then turns upside down. That means you turn upside down, in the water, strapped into a seat. Once the barrel of beatings stops moving, you then unstrap and find your way to an exit. Four times. And, the fourth time you are wearing blackened-out goggles. Not only are you upside down, you can’t see and you are holding your breath. That is sort of important. The question is: how do you find your way out when you are disoriented? It’s simple: you have a reference point. When you are going under and turning upside down, you find something to hold onto and when the motion stops, when turbulence has subsided, when you release what is holding you down, you use the reference point to find your way. Sometimes life turns us upside down. Sometimes we have to hold our breath. Sometimes, we do not know which way is up. What is your reference point? When you find yourself tossed and turned and sometimes in the dark, what do you hold onto? Family? Faith? Hold onto it when you are upside down, cant see and have lost your way, you will make it out and will have survived. Keep Running (or swimming as the case may be)!