Crying before battle, Great Courage During

Art of War in Dating #9

“On the day they are ordered out to battle, your soldiers may weep, those sitting up bedewing their garments, and those lying down letting the tears run down their cheeks. But let them once be brought to bay, and they will display... courage.”

Sun Tzu

I once had to attend a training while in Nuke school. It later turned out to be a Submarine commander trying to convince us young future Nuclear Operators to become submarine Nukes instead of surface Nukes. I was astute enough to realize that submarine life sucked and that was why he was selling it so hard.

During the training, which I was too tired to focus on because I was studying for an upcoming Nuclear startup, he told a story about submariners who sacrificed themselves to stop a fire on a sub. He asked us if we could be heroes like them. Most of us nodded, but not confidently. He then said he was confident we were all heroes and that all of us would have done the same thing.