Lessons learned in my army life: Part 1
Despite the many horrors of my army experiences which I talked endlessly about, there are many stories that I have posted from those bad experiences which later became bittersweet ones instead. Little by little, my positive mindset has enabled me to distort the experiences that I have went through to become good memories instead. However I have yet to decide this is a overall positive phenomenon or a negative one; on one hand these bad experiences are something that I do not want to remember, and remembering them as positive experiences is an interesting way to resolve the issue. However the remembrance of the army as a positive experience may limit the way I look at other things; it may encourage a regimental mindset when it comes to civilian life. Such examples include carrying out instructions without question which although holds merit in the army, has little merit in the commercial, civilian working world. It also reflects badly on your character and lack of individuality, while the lack of individuality is sometimes what the army looks for in their men.
I have thus decided to compile a list of life lessons that I can carry forward from my bad experiences in the army to my civilian life. I already have a few in my head, but I do plan to write them progressively as time passes, and as such you would not see a list that I am so typical of doing; it would be wise as well to write the backstory of these lessons so as to not only strengthen the premises of my statements, but also to remember these moments as part of my army life for logging purposes. I suppose, that looking on the very shallow analysis of my thoughts in the first paragraph, it would be adequate to talk about the need for differences in lifestyles within the army relative to civilian life.
There are huge differences in the army lifestyle compared to the civilian lifestyle, one of which is the lack of freedom and privacy. One is made to only roam within certain areas of the camp, if you allowed to roam anywhere at all (thank God for my rank promotion). You are made to sleep with 10 other bunkmates (if you're lucky) and there is no space for privacy, unless you hide in the corner of the wall. Even then you are not to deny access from your commanders under any circumstances. Secondly, there is strict regimentation of your movements from place to place. There is a need for your commanders to know where you are every second of every day. It is strange but the reason for this is because your ability access places which can cause potential threat to other people. I am able to enter the armskote room, which is a room stacked with 100+ guns. Able to draw military vehicles and arrange to leave the camp for military purposes with relative ease. I suppose that being in places does mean that you have to conform with the rules and regulations, which become more sensical as your realise the need for these rules under your circumstance.
And thus my first lesson:
Ridiculous rules are put for a reason, and it is often because of the circumstance that you are put in or the risk in not following those rules.
Think about it a little more when you choose to ridicule a country's 'silly law'. Learn the reason for the law in context of the people living within the country.
Cheers,
Matthew Tan
I have thus decided to compile a list of life lessons that I can carry forward from my bad experiences in the army to my civilian life. I already have a few in my head, but I do plan to write them progressively as time passes, and as such you would not see a list that I am so typical of doing; it would be wise as well to write the backstory of these lessons so as to not only strengthen the premises of my statements, but also to remember these moments as part of my army life for logging purposes. I suppose, that looking on the very shallow analysis of my thoughts in the first paragraph, it would be adequate to talk about the need for differences in lifestyles within the army relative to civilian life.
There are huge differences in the army lifestyle compared to the civilian lifestyle, one of which is the lack of freedom and privacy. One is made to only roam within certain areas of the camp, if you allowed to roam anywhere at all (thank God for my rank promotion). You are made to sleep with 10 other bunkmates (if you're lucky) and there is no space for privacy, unless you hide in the corner of the wall. Even then you are not to deny access from your commanders under any circumstances. Secondly, there is strict regimentation of your movements from place to place. There is a need for your commanders to know where you are every second of every day. It is strange but the reason for this is because your ability access places which can cause potential threat to other people. I am able to enter the armskote room, which is a room stacked with 100+ guns. Able to draw military vehicles and arrange to leave the camp for military purposes with relative ease. I suppose that being in places does mean that you have to conform with the rules and regulations, which become more sensical as your realise the need for these rules under your circumstance.
And thus my first lesson:
Ridiculous rules are put for a reason, and it is often because of the circumstance that you are put in or the risk in not following those rules.
Think about it a little more when you choose to ridicule a country's 'silly law'. Learn the reason for the law in context of the people living within the country.
Cheers,
Matthew Tan
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