Doctors’ Lounge
sharks, advising them that no one had
been eaten recently. If the sharks began
to circle them, they should stand their
ground and never act afraid. “If one
comes at you, punch him in the snout,
and he will swim away.” Said Adm.
McRaven, “There are a lot of sharks
in the world. If you want to change
the world, don’t back down from the
sharks.”
8
Navy SEALS have to learn to attack
ships from underneath, swimming
more than two miles usually from their
drop off point with only a depth gauge
and a compass. The closer they get to
the ship, the darker the water gets. And
in the centerline of the ship, under the
keel where they place their weaponry,
is the darkest point of all. “The noise
from the machinery is deafening and
you cannot see your hand in front of
your face; it is easy to get disoriented
and fail. It’s at that moment when you
must be calm and composed, when
all your tactical skills, your power and
your inner strength must be brought
to bear.” Said Adm. McRaven, “If you
want to change the world, you must be
your very best in the darkest moment.”
9
10
Traditionally on Wednesday of Hell
Week they tackle the Mud Flats, in the
wetlands between San Diego and Tijuana. As punishment after a full day of
being worked over in the surf and the
mud, at sunset his group was ordered
to stand in the mud up to their necks.
They were promised relief – paddle
back home to food and warmth – if
only five men would quit. They held
out. They had visions of all day all night
then all day. They were beyond cold,
in the howling wind with chattering
teeth and audible shivering. But then –
one guy started to sing, then two, then
three, then all. Said Adm. McRaven,
“If I have learned anything in my time
traveling the world, it is the power of
hope. If you want to change the world,
start singing when you’re up to your
neck in mud.”
To quit, you rang the brass bell in the
center of the compound. If you rang
the bell, you got to stop the runs, the
swims, the cold, the suffering, the being screamed at, the utter exhaustion
that you overcame again and again, to
keep going, to keep trying, to never
give up. Said Adm. McRaven, “If you
want to change the world, don’t ever,
ever ring the bell.”
Doctors don’t have Hell Week. We have
little grindy bitternesses and fatigues and resentments and bites of boredom with doing
the same thing over and over. What saves us
(since singing might alarm the patient, at
least mine) is the freshness of each person
we see, each a new chance to accomplish
something, each a new diversion from the
sameness of our questions, each a reminder
of why we get in the boat every day. They
help us, we help them. We never forget our
mistakes; we have to learn from them and
do better.
I would not last a minute in that surf – I
don’t even paddle in the river if more than
20 feet - but I deeply admire those who do,
and am forever gr ]Y