Training Day 68

So... Yeah. Really late. Crazy weekend. This would be Friday.

Language: Reading and writing tests today... 92/92! That translated to B+/A- because of the crazy sliding scales on my course but that's such a huge improvement for me. I actually know this language and am getting better all the time. Then we watched this pretty horrible movie.

Military: It's a loose connection but today I proved that my MCT-acquired marksmanship skills are as sharp as ever. If not more so now that my body is almost working right.

Personal: Wow... so... Today I got to watch how I react to a situation. First, the shock of the initial statement hits me. Then I scramble trying to get more information to understand what is going on. When I don't get that information and for a while later, I seem to shift gears until I am exuding aggression as my frustration and shock play out. One of my classmates said, "I'm going to stand on this side of the table." I also stomped the floor. Later I start bouncing the situation off of some of my friends to get their perspectives on it. They also help me work out my own thoughts. Finally, things start to make sense. Once the situation stops being strange and sudden I can work through it.

Then I have to make my decision: freak out or handle it. I choose to handle it. I am at peace.

It's when I'm blind-sided by something and don't have the necessary information or time to figure out how to handle it that I start getting tense and defensive. I think it may stem from a feeling of having just been attacked and I'm on the lookout for any other assaults. Fortunately, I am getting much better at working through all of my emotions in such a way that no one gets hurt or freaked out. It's also taking me a whole lot less time to reach the 'acceptance to action to peace of mind' stage.

End result is that what I thought would really suck will actually work out for the better.

...However, because of what I was feeling I didn't get a lot done. I kind of vegged. At some point I went out to get Chinese food with The Hooah and then we went to a movie. I determined that I just needed to get out of my room and have some fun with a friend. We had several really good and deep conversations over chow. We arrived at the theater too late to catch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles so instead we saw 300. I had never seen the film before.

It rocked. For so many reasons. 'Nuff said. While waiting for the movie to start we played some games at the little B-rate arcade in the theater and that is where I put my MCT skills to the test. It's the difference between firing at the range and firing for combat. So between getting to put some of my training to use (I know it's just a game but it's still rewarding) and watching an awesome movie, I was feeling pretty good when I hit the rack.

Of course, I had a hard time sleeping. Too pumped up.