32km CSB march down!! :D

Finally, I've done what's needed to get the Combat Skill Badge (CSB) :D The most recent test I cleared was the 32km road march.

This 32km road march isn't a dish on its own...it came as a set meal, complete with GPS station, river crossing, weapon handling station and 100m range combat shoot.

I thought I'd be fighting to survive the road march...especially after the river crossing station. However, this 32km road march wasn't as bad as I expected. :D The 1st 8km I was kinda sleepy and shagged out. So we were all pretty concerned if we could make it; citing the fact that we were all so tired by 8km!! ONLY 1/4 way through!

Fortunately, after the 8km checkpoint, I wasn't that tired any longer. In fact, I was more awake and ready to march after the 8km...haha! It was as if my body's warmed up. LOLS! So on we marched till 12km.

12KM! Here's the screwed up part of our march. The sergeant leading us hor-land-ed!!! He led our entire platoon on a wrong turn and this made us march an extra 2km!! !+_)(*&^%$# I was really pissed off. His claim was the CSB Road March sign was pointed at the wrong direction. -_-"

I was ranting all the way after we were made to march an extra 2km. You can ask my marching buddy Xue Ming...listening to my bitching and complaining...But in the end, all my ranting was just to air my frustration. Haha.

Then came the river crossing point. I was so sleepy by then that I almost fell face flat because I fell asleep while standing..HAHA! I was really afraid that the river crossing'd kill me. Haha. Because the weight added by the water would make my FBO around 35kg? 5kg++ heavier than usual.

Once again, the opposite happened! Instead of the water knocking me out, it actually woke me up! Haha! The cold water greeted my body with a refreshing splash and boy was I wide awake and ready to rumble after crossing the water obstacle. Haha!

If you think water is a lubricant, then I tell you, it's a catalyst for blisters and abrasions!! Blisters and abrasions started forming after the river crossing... -_-" However, I just pressed on and completed the rest of the 12km.

And of course, all the stations were a breeze...especially the combat shooting. Haha.

One more thing that's REALLY IMPORTANT during road marches is: Get a good friend of yours to march beside you!! If you get a few assholes that march beside you and keep kao-pehing to ask you cover up, or if you get someone that you don't like or doesn't like you walking beside you, it'll really affect you psychologically. So get a good friend that will stand by you and understand you to walk beside you. So that when you feel like ranting, he'll listen and smile. Or if you feel like slowing down, he'll keep in step and always be beside you.

I learnt that in BMT. So now, I'll pull a good friend to march beside me :D That dear friend for me during this 32km CSB march was Xue Ming :D

All in all I learnt what endurance, patience and grace really means. No matter how tired I am, I still have to march. No matter how dauntingly painful my blisters and abrasions are, I still have to march. No matter how many more clicks we have to march because the sergeant led us round a wrong turn, I STILL HAVE TO MARCH!!!

It's very much like life. Sometimes, I just feel so tired of living in this imperfect world; when everything seems to be not going your way and when the pains (blisters & abrasions) and unfairness of life (hor-landing) kicks in, we need to find the hope and perseverance to march on.

Deep inside us we all yearn for this perfect utopia that has no tears, no pain, no asshol-ic people. That'll be the future when Jesus comes back and creates a new heaven and a new earth for those that have chosen Him. But for now, WE HAVE TO "WAIT AND SEE". Reminds me of this song by Brandon Heath:



I was born in Tennessee late July, humidity
Doctors said I was lucky to be alive
I've been troubled since the day that I got here
Troubled to the day that I’d disappear
That'll be the day that I’d finally get it right

Chorus:
There is hope, for me yet
Because God won't forget
All the plans, He's made for me
I have to wait and see
He's not finished with me yet
He's not finished with me yet

I never really was that good in school
Talked too much, broke the rules
My teachers thought
I was a hopeless fool, alright
I don't know how but I made it through
It's one of those things you gotta do
I always had a knack for telling the truth

Bridge:
Still wonderin' why I'm here
Still wrestling with my fear
But oh...He's up to something
And the farther on I go
I've seen enough to know
That I'm, not here for nothin'...
He's up to somethin'

So now's my time to be a man
Follow my heart as far as I can
No tellin' where I'm ending up tonight
I never slow down or so it seems
But singing my heart is one of my dreams
All I gotta do is hold on tight

I HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE!! I love the bridge that says "But oh...He's up to something" Jesus is up to something bigger than me. I'm just a part of the bigger game plan He's gonna do here on Earth before He destroys it and creates a new one with the option of "sin" disabled.

So yup, I'm still marchin' on Lord. I hope I'll reach my rest point soon and get refreshed :D Help me persevere and encourage the others around me that are road marching on this route called "Life" as well :D