Sergeant Tony's Blog

“Diablo” was an awesome dog, a Great Dane, and lived next door to me when I was in the 11th grade. When he bit my arm, several times, it hurt … a lot.

Diablo was a big ol’ goofy dog and my friend. I loved him and wrestled with him almost everyday.

So why’d he bite me?

Diablo tried to climb the 6 ft. chain link fence gate at his house and got to the top of the gate but somehow got his paw caught in the fence. He lost his balance and flipped over the top of the fence on the carport side of the gate. Unfortunately his paw was caught in the fence on the backyard side of the gate. He hung over the top of the fence with his paw and leg caught on one side of the gate and his body on the other side. It was awful.

I was at home when I heard his horrifying yelping and crying and came running out of my house to see what had happened. Carla, Diablo’s 26 year old owner, was freaking out and was on her way over to get me because she didn’t know what to do.

When I got to Diablo he was as hysterical and out of control as a dog can be. He cried and yelped so loudly and so pitifully … and Carla and her two kids had completely lost it.

All I could think to do was to somehow get Diablo’s body back over the top of the gate to take the pressure off his leg and paw. So that’s what I did. I climbed the gate under him, wrapped my arm around him, and put my shoulder under his body and started to lift him up.

That’s when he started biting me.

He was scared and was panicked. He was like a drowning victim who will, in their panic stricken state, practically drown the person trying to save them. Diablo was terrified and in pain and he bit me out of fear and panic. He was my friend. He loved me. I knew that. He was just scared.

I finally got him off the fence. And when it was all over, Diablo had a broken leg and a his paw was pretty messed up. He went to the vet and I went to the ER. Both of us were fine and within a few weeks he and I were wrestling in the yard again and having fun.

Diablo was an awesome dog and my pal. But when he was hurt and in pain and scared and panicked … he bit me. He bit the one person who was there to save him. He bit his buddy. But he didn’t mean to hurt me.

People who are hurting and in pain and scared and panicked will sometimes do the same thing. They will often lash out and be cruel and mistreat the very person there to help them. The person who loves them.

This isn’t an endorsement of that kind of behavior. It’s not an encouragement to act that way. It’s not anything but an observation. I’ve been guilty of doing the same thing. I’ve been tired, hurt, worried, or just felt bad and I’ve been less than kind to those closest to me. Not my finest moment.

One of Stephen Covey’s “Habits of Highly Effective People” is … “seek to understand then to be understood.”

Reserving judgment, not overreacting, and giving people the benefit of the doubt are essential. I call it the “24 Principle” from the television show. The show, if nothing else, teaches that you are a complete fool if you overreact, make a snap judgment, and fail to give others the benefit of the doubt. In fact, the show demonstrates just how necessary it is to suspend judgment until you have all the facts. This is not to be confused with discernment of someone’s consistently bad and irrational behavior. But acknowledging that someone may have pain and suffering, that isn’t evident, is a mark of maturity and wisdom.

Diablo cried and wailed and I knew he was suffering. Your fellow pilgrim, your friend, your partner, your spouse, your co-worker, the person in line with you at the store, though not visibly in pain, may need your patience and understanding more than you could know. And if they bite you … don’t bite back … seek first to understand …

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AWOL

Have you been away from USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP for a while? Comfortable in Turdeville? Wanna come back? C’mon then!! I won’t bite you! (see above!)

I know how it is. You miss a day or two … and then it’s been a week or two … and then it’s a month or two …

Get back on track. Come back to the Quarterdeck!

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JULY 4th WEEKEND

There will be no evening workout on Friday, July 2.
There will one workout on Monday, July 5th at 7 AM!

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BOGA tomorrow at CUMC @ 0530
MT. FUJI at the U of M on Tuesday the 29th @ 0530

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TUESDAY & THURSDAY EVENING CLASS

The Tuesday and Thursday evening classes meet at St. Agnes’ track. These are cardio (walking/jogging/running) workouts and they begin at 5:45 PM.

St. Agnes is at the corner of Walnut Grove and Mendenhall.

Should the St. Agnes track be occupied or the field being used, making the track unavailable to us, we’ll go to St. Mary’s track, at Walnut Grove and Perkins.

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CALENDAR

A calendar has been added to the official USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website.

http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/calendar.html

For you visual learners, you’ll find this an easy way to glance at the week or month and see where the workouts will be, if there’s a venue change.

Tomorrow, Thursday, June 24, is BOGA at 0530!

Tuesday, June 29, we’ll be climbing Mt. Fuji!

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BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

So far this experiment has been pretty amazing!
Here’s how it works!

Make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

For every status update that you make that references:
“USMC Fitness Boot Camp,”
“Sgt. Tony’s Boot Camp,”
“Tony’s Boot Camp,”
or something similar, you can take $2.50 off your reenlistment fee!
Up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

“Great Boot Camp workout with Sgt. Tony this morning!” is good!
“I love USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP!” is good!
“I love Sgt. Tony and his Boot Camp ROCKS!!” is REALLY good!

You get the idea! Use your own wording and personality, just include the specifics.

Restrict yourself to just one of these status updates per day. You don’t want 8 status updates in a row going out on the same day!

So log on and get started now!

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WANT TO LOSE 15 POUNDS BY THE END OF JULY?

Take Shape For Life is the BEST weight loss program I know of. If you’d like to lose weight talk to me. This is the program I used to lose the almost 30 pounds I gained after knee surgery. Let me help you!

You can also go to www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/

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What would you do if money were not an issue, fear were not a factor, and failure were not an option?

To your optimum health and fitness!

SEE YOU ON THE QUARTERDECK!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145
www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

http://www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/esuite/home/combatchallenge/