Not Black & Not White!
Dedicated to last week’s chaos in Israel with the Ethiopian people. A humble reflection by me.
Michael Jackson, we need you here to give us a whoop whoop moon walk and defrost the vibes with your irresistible charm and Gospel powerful lyrics. It wasn’t music, it was a statement. Shall we shake to that and smile? Knowing some hope is behind the corner. Can you see it? because I can..
Another step forward is wanted, a few steps backwards are taken. Let’s collect the broken mirror from the floor, put the pieces together and look ourselves for a one second.
Me, a tiny human being doesn’t know much and isn’t able to impact a whole movement, but I am going to throw a boomerang into the air, hoping some flowers and birds will sing its melody to the pleasances of the people, my home country, crazy but beloved, Israel.
Being on the road for the last 7 years, From the temples of Asia to the jungles of Latin America, luxury living in Europe and coastal sailing in Africa.. I have gained a diversified perspective on life and society and I am learning to let go of all the imaginary world we are meant to believe and operate in automatically.
Number 1 thing I have learned to understand is that the media is not the brain food you want to nourish your mindset with.. it will collapse in itself with the uncontainable amounts of rubbish and conspiracies.
Breathe in, breathe out, let go of these strong beliefs of yours, and why is that? Because that is the main thing that’s keeping you behind living a free, liberal and extraordinary life. The ordinary is suffocating I know, but you’ll have to go through it to understand deeply it’s not for you.
Who am I to even give an advice here, a blue eyed boy from a green hill up north.. knowing absolute 0 about politics. So some of you might criticize the credibility of my stories, give it a try, am I here for you this time.. let’s do it together as I’ve done my best in the past.
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I used to (not sure anymore) think the gate of greatness is open to the world and we all have equal opportunity to walk through it, some start at 5 meters before the starting point and some are already at the finish line.. so it seems at least.. naa it isn’t the million from papa, it’s not the genetics, it’s not anything that we have no control over.. because that’s pre-determined, so forget about it.. There is nothing we can do about it.. so why throwing our sack of rotten potatoes and saying it’s been handed to us like that? Or it is what you have.. Shall we focus on what we want and forget about we don’t want..? You decide, one day or day one!
Shortening my history into a few lines: I was a troublesome kido that was expelled out of school every consecutive year. Finishing school, having no diploma, I was destined to be a rebel soldier that will end up behind bars. I am not a protected teen anymore, they will put me behind bars if I’ll continue behaving this way..
Long story short.. something changed dramatically in the course of my life, even though I had been bombarded with warnings and big fat NOs!
Waking up one day as a young Navy SEAL candidate (that was already behind my perception of what I am privileged to become) we were thrown into the first ‘Morning Swim’ in the cold waters of January Med Sea. As a swimming lover, that didn’t bother me much but the guy on my left an — Ethiopian dude, it absolutely terrified. There was another guy from my team that was a Water Polo player… So what happened at the end.. is very simple. What do you think happened at the end?
I have two options:
- play the strong hero and try to make it first and get the best first impression.
- Swim at the back, allowing the drowning dude to grab my friend’s speedo and mine too. like superman, he was holding us and getting a taxi boat to the finish line..
You know the answer right.. :)
He became a successful SEAL long months after that and learned to swim just fine. Could I believe it? not really! Did he have a chance? Yes he did and it wasn’t easy to keep on trying. He came with 0 potential next to ours.. and made it anyway.. just like I was supposed to be kicked out as youngster that no one believed in..
WE DO HAVE CONTROL OVER THINGS! But no butts, we need to try harder.. no one is going to give us a candy and say: good boy.
Waking up again as former Navy SEAL, I was requested to come and assess the fresh frogs (17–18 years old) before they even have the right to join long exhaustive course.
They were around 20, each one has more fire in the eyes than the other.. but who will make it through? usually 1–3..
Full of young studs, educated, extremely fit, some wealthy with big dreams.. ready to give a shot for the challenge of their lives…
Some of the tests happen in the sea.. some in deep sand.. but all of them are not very pleasant and even surprising so the mental ability to overcome those is critical.. fitness is not enough.
It was night time and I was guarding them in the water for a long long time.. they had to stay calm underwater, breathing from their snorkels and darkened masks for as long as I decide they have finished the patience/resilience test.
My job was to take of their safety as much as to harress them and make them quit.. so I will stuff their snorkels with some sand and water.. and will drown and shake them a little bit..
One guy, an Ethipian, seemed to have multiple problems with the drill and he coudln’t stay calm.
For me it was an easy deicision — OUT OF THE WATER!
But I saw something in that boy’s eyes.. they were sparkling.. he was coming from a rough childhood, I could tell that and he was eager to make something out of this short opportunity.. he just needed the chance to learn.
I stopped and re-taught him how to handle himself in this drill for a 2–3 silent minutes.. he was confused and stressed, he deserved another go.
He made it to the finish line and I was very proud of him.
….
After 5 horrible days 3/4 of the fresh frogs have quit and we gathered with the final council to decide upon who will get to join the course.
I was sitting around a big table with a high grade officer — the SEAL School commander, the psycologist and former SEALs that were twice my age.
I didn’t have much to say about the other candidates as they were assessed by the smart matrix and the impression of the crew… It seemed reasonable.
When we were to discuss about the Ethipian guy, I was asked to give my opinion and I opened my heart. You already know what I thought of him.
The rest of the crew rejected my opinion harshly but gladly the big commander was touched by my belief in the young boy.. you know what happened? A happy ending like every movie.. He gave him the chance to join even though the big council strictly didn’t approve this according to the matrix.
I was thrilled, let’s break the rules a little and let the heart decide for us.. after all we trained years to follow our intuition right!?
Actually, I don’t know if he ever made it to become a SEAL but I am trusting this guy to take that story and share it with the rest of the Ethiopian people if Israel.
I am not going to summarize that blog to give you homework or a course of action because that was a reflection of mine and some personal stories to prove that there is some justice in this world.. I hope to have to strength and justice to always do the right thing.. but we’re in this together!
We can actually blend in and mix the world.. but only if we try a bit harder.. because it’s not going to be easy. we will have to prove our words and beliefs with action.. consistent action.. unbreakable characters that will march for centuries ahead..
Maybe one day this planet will become even more awesome.. but until then we are not going to only like on Facebook nice campaigns.. we are going to work that dirty work behind the scenes to move those mountains so these young volcanos could erupt and become whaterver they can become.
Michael Jackson, not black and not white! I love you, rest in peace.
