Using Fear As Fuel - SOFLETE

GET FREE SHIPPING ON ANY ORDER OVER $75
TRAINING SUPPS  GEAR  SALE KNOWLEDGE
PROTEIN SHIRTS
PRE-WORKOUT HOODIES
SLEEP AID & RECOVERY JACKETS
Home UPPERS
KNOWLEDGE & DOWNERS 2.0
IS POWER BOTTOMS
Previous | Next
HATS
ACCESSORIES
Using Fear as Fuel WOMEN'S
HELP
July 05, 2021 | 5 min read
I’ve been afraid my whole life.
I didn’t have a home as a child, I bounced between houses and family

members. I slept on a couch here, a Noor there; a bed if I was lucky. As soon as
I got close to being settled, I’d get moved. One of my earliest fears was that I’d
never have my own place to call home. I took to living in the woods as much as
I could. We called it camping. It ended up being preparation for the many
nights I spent under the stars later in life.
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Privacy Policy
https://soflete.com/blogs/knowledge/use-fear-as-fuel 16/05/2024, 07 11
Page 1 of 8
:
Looking back, I can’t even remember much of high school. It feels like a dream.
The instability I experienced did not allow a settled feeling through those
formative years. I think I had friends but the fears I had at home carried over to
school in the form of not being close to a lot of people. I believe I was friendly,
but I was not close to people outside my very close circle of guys who loved the
thought of being a commando someday.
The desire to be a Soldier came early to me. I believe it was more of a way to
climb above the fear of being unwanted than it was a way out of the whole
mess. The Army oTered somewhere I could belong; a home. As we got older,
my small circle of friends and I stayed in the forests around our homes more
and more often. We all expressed some level of interest in one day being
“elite”. It was the eighties. My dad was a Vietnam Veteran. We learned the
Ranger Creed and truly tried to understand what it meant; sitting underneath
poncho hootches and discussing the meaning of it. This led to more fear for
me. Could I live up to what I knew would be expected from a life like the one I
wanted?
Even at that young age, I studied sacri[ce. I read everything I could get my
hands on at the local library about World War Two and Vietnam. I knew that
Page 2 of 8
:
glory and war didn’t necessarily belong together, but words like honor,
sacri[ce, and service to a cause bigger than myself really mattered. Late at
night, I feared what that meant for me. Would I be someone, like the
paratroopers I was reading about, who would step up when it mattered? I knew
the only way to [nd out was to commit. I made that decision long before I ever
raised my hand and recited the oath of enlistment.
It didn’t take long after I joined to the military to realize that all the fears I had
been hiding could actually be useful. I could take the knot that came from not
feeling good enough and use it to steer myself towards a purpose. The
bureaucracy of the Army had its own plans during the early days of my career
and I didn’t initially get to walk the exact path I intended years before.
Regardless, I was beginning to use that new found drive to try and be better
every single day. We didn’t have intelligent workout programs in the early
nineties, we just had GO. Go fast, go hard, and don’t ever quit. I was fast, [t,
and studied warfare almost every minute of the day. But there was always fear.
Fear crept in during quiet times to remind me that I was not as fast as some
guys within the platoon. I was not as good a shot as another. I was afraid of
Page 3 of 8
:
heights. I ran more; the sound of my feet on roads and trails my attempt to
drown doubt. The range became my church. Every single jump, I was afraid and
ashamed inside. I didn’t think anyone else was really scared. What could I do?
Jump, that’s what. Even when that meant standing on the ramp, seconds away
from falling into the dark abyss from 20,000 feet. Jump! Never, ever quit.
Always keep moving forward. Keep running, shooting, jumping. Whatever it
took.
For me selection was three weeks of fear, though at the time I never would
have admitted that to anyone. Even though I had spent ten years in some great
Infantry units I was afraid I wouldn’t meet the standard. Would my good be
good enough? In the dark hours alone in the woods, I had to take that fear and
drive it down. I had to mold that fear into the belly [re I needed to rise above
the pain and doubts I saw in the mirror.
They say selection never ends. My success there came with even more fear.
Once I arrived on a team I quickly realized that I had to earn my place every
single day. Fear of failing my teammates was a daily part of life and in many
ways it still is. I got to 3rd Special Forces Group shortly after their [rst combat
deployment. The day I showed up to my team, I was the only one without the
Page 4 of 8
:
coveted Combat Infantryman’s Badge. My entire career, I had looked at men
with their CIB with an awe. Combat: they’d seen it. Grenada, Panama, Desert
Strom, Somalia and now my team had all seen combat in the opening phase of
Afghanistan.
Then it was my turn. I found myself in the back of a dark MH-47 en route to
blow down some dude’s door to kill or capture him in some Afghan village. In
the darkened helo, I reNected on a life of fear that brought me to that moment.
Could I live up to a life’s study of what others had done? Yes. I could. Fear
equals drive if you can recognize it and use it. That night was a major junction
in my life. It was the beginning of many years of combat. Looking back, I cannot
even count how many nights I’ve had just like that; controlling the chaos within
myself while controlling the actual chaos all around me. It’s life.
Life is fear whether anyone wants to admit or not. What matters is what you
choose to do with it. You can let it win and give up to its dark wish to own you
and cause you to fail, or you can move forward in the knowledge that you are
unstoppable. I know that I’m afraid. I recognize that I have fear. Hell, I just
retired from almost three decades of military service and now I have to [gure
out the “next”. You think that’s not scary? It [lls me with fear at times. But
Page 5 of 8
:
though fear is my constant companion, it will never win. I know that I will never
be stopped. I may get hit. I may get knocked back, but I’ll always [nd a way. Oh,
and my circle of childhood friends? Not a single one of them became a
commando.
They must’ve been scared.
Jim Thompson was born in a small town in Mississippi. He recently retired after 29
years of military service; 26 of which was Active Duty Infantry and Special Forces.
Page 6 of 8
:
Related Blog Posts
The Right Michael

Boots Jordan
Whey Lied To Us
Protein- Won't
Save You All:
What is Gatorade
the best? From
Weak Feet wasn't
the key to
quenching
thirst
Page 7 of 8
:
SUPPORT SHOP DOWNLOAD THE SOFLETE APP
TODAY!
Help & FAQs Supplements

Strength training, nutrition,
Returns Accessories mobility and recovery designed
Training Tops to enhance the tactical athlete.
Get started with a 10-day Free
Shipping Women's Trial.
Contact Us
© 2024 SOFLETE, LLC

Terms of Use Privacy Policy California Privacy Notice Notice of Financial Incentive
Cookies Sensitive Personal Information
Page 8 of 8
:

Using Fear As Fuel - SOFLETE

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Using Fear As Fuel - SOFLETE

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Using Fear As Fuel - SOFLETE

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

GET FREE SHIPPING ON ANY ORDER OVER $75

TRAINING SUPPS  GEAR  SALE KNOWLEDGE

Using Fear as Fuel WOMEN'S

I’ve been afraid my whole life.

I didn’t have a home as a child, I bounced between houses and family

They must’ve been scared.

The Right Michael

Help & FAQs Supplements

© 2024 SOFLETE, LLC

You might also like