10/26/2026
Sometimes it’s just not your day. I think it’s how you deal with it that matters.
I know this picture doesn’t seem too bad, but that’s a 300 pound target stand that fell against the Skidloader, trapping me inside and if I tried to work at standing the target back up with the forks- it could break the glass of the door or worse,
I needed help.
I started calling people.
Nobody was able to come help in the way I expected them to- I wanted someone physically to be there to lift the load off- to fix the problem for me.
I kept calling people to see if they could come. Every number I could think of. Some people gave me some crap- “should have tied down your load better”. Not useful at the moment but also not wrong…
I’d called everyone that I thought I could help me.
Then I just sat there for what felt like 20 minutes thinking about how I got into that situation and kicking myself. But it wasn’t going to help me get out of it. THINK!
I looked around for an escape hatch- a way I could get myself out of this problem. Nothing- there was no way out that I could see.
But that’s not possible. There’s always a way. They can’t build these newer loaders without an escape hatch, right?
I had to throw up the roll bar, stand up in that tiny space and turn around to see the very small escape hatch built into the back window. “It’s going to be tight but I can fit through there.”
Making sure I didn’t do any damage to the window seal of the escape hatch I pulled it out and crawled through. “I’M OUT!”
From there I was able to create a way to pull the load off the door and get everything stood back up. Very little damage overall… it could have been a lot worse!
I think I’m telling this story because right away in my problem- my solution was that someone else needs to rescue me. That would have been the easiest answer for sure. I don’t know that I would have learned the lessons from this that I needed to learn though. And in my military life, my teams solve complex problems- we are only limited by our imaginations and our ability to perform “field craft”. My past experiences have built a confidence in myself to be able to problem-solve anything. It’s just a matter of realizing that I’m the solution.
In life, I think we should appreciate any help we get along the way, but don’t expect it to be the final solution to all our problems that we’ve created.
Crawling out of our hole that we dug is ultimately on us. Can we do it? Absolutely. We make our own ways!
If you’re a combat vet that misses the brotherhood, shoot me a text at 712-253-8810. I’ve got time to grab a cup of coffee and listen… or maybe you just want to come hang with the boys out here for a day sweating while we put in the work. Whatever gets you back in the fold… we’ve got a ton of guys who went from sucking to thriving just by surrounding themselves with good men. Maybe it’s what you actually need, and not what you thought you needed? Call or text!
Jt
