The Art of The Tactical Knee
As we watch the world around us change, anxiety can set in.
Economic stress, political stress, family stress, the holidays are approaching, COVID-19, preparing for winter to set in… and the fact that 2020 has served as one of the craziest years in recent memory.
When I served in the Army, I taught the practice of the ‘tactical knee.’
What is this?
During military training exercises there are times when things can get… hectic. There can be confusion, you can become tired, you need to evaluate your surroundings, and make a decision.
“Take a knee”
This is not just a physical action. This is also a process by which you take stock of the situation. Do you understand where you are? Where you are going? What you have? What you need? Do you know where the potential threat is? Also… breathe! Then breathe again.
Stop. Think. Triage. Plan. Execute.
Don’t make the mistake of getting stuck at the thinking phase.
While in uniform, we would also use this as an opportunity to take stock of our ammunition, water, food, make sure everyone was okay, cram a cold MRE down our face hole, and move out.
My recommendation to everyone is that they learn how to take a knee. Life can be crazy, it can feel as if there are a lot of things out of your control and that the punches just keep coming. It is during these times when it is important to force a tactical knee.
This does not mean that you should literally take a knee in your office, or during a hard conversation with a loved one. However, doing so would certainly create an interesting story! This means that you need to take control of your space, time, and mind, and make an effort to stop everything and breathe.
How to triage:
When I served in the U.S. Army as a Combat Medic, I was taught triage in Combat Medical School. This became increasingly important when dealing with situations in Iraq where there were a lot of casualties, called mass casualty events. My training taught me to categorize those who were injured in a manner that would enable the best use of resources to save the most lives.
In this, you are required to assess the severity of several injuries and decide which ones require your attention. Learn how to do this in your own life. Triage your tasks, fires, work load, and emergencies. The issues that can wait, let them wait. The ones that need your attention immediately, figure out how to address them as best you can, and move on to the next.
Don’t mistake this as some form of trying to give a big middle finger to life, the man, or your responsibilities. It’s not that at all. This is a way of slowing down the crazy for a bit so that you can plan and organize a better way to attack it.
The idea of this is great. The reality is that we are not able to sit an reflect on life in a peaceful location like this. Life does not stop for you to contemplate the meaning of life. Meditation is amazing, but you have to find a way to do this where it fits within the reality of your life. Then make a decision.
Many people already use techniques to calm calm themselves down: controlled breathing, meditation, prayer, medications, nature walks, etc. Whatever works best for you, do it. However, you have to understand that it is not about escaping the chaos of the world. It’s about finding a way to navigate it where you are more in control of which craziness you need to deal with and what things can be ignored.
As the adage goes, “accept the things you can not change and change the things you can not accept.” But there must be a method to the madness that fits your life.
Regardless of your current journey, understand and learn to appreciate the value of taking this form of life break to help you triage all the noise.
Take a knee, folks! Focus, make a decision, and execute.
