The arena

Tuesday 20 January 2010

I am back at BAF and ran into some of my surgeon friends who were stationed at FOB Ghazni and FOB Salerno (Khost Province). They’re on their way back home and fly out tomorrow. Both groups mentioned that in a strange way, they are kind of disappointed and a bit sad to be leaving. After referring them for immediate cognitive testing and a neuropsych evaluation, I found out that they had been happy with their deployments and universally had very rewarding experiences. One of the surgeons, interestingly, reportedly left FOB Salerno in tears. Part of their melancholy is no doubt associated with the fact that they’re actually on the way home. I still have about 6 weeks left to go and am trying to just keep up the pace and finish strong. Once I let myself really start thinking about home, I’m afraid that time will start to slow. I’m not quite ready to reflect back just yet- there are too many hours and miles between me and Kailua.

While I have very little access or time for media, even I have heard about the recent tragedy in Haiti. I’ve also heard about some of the frustration with the slowness of relief efforts. I am acutely aware of the challenges of providing humanitarian relief in austere environments and was at first frustrated by the critical nature of some reports. Then I thought, how American of us to just assume that of course we would come to the aid of another country and that of course we should be rapid and effective. What other nation expects and demands such perfectly executed compassion? Ultimately, that is likely a good thing and I guess that’s why we are who we are. Before I came to that realization, however, one of my favorite quotes regarding the difference between doers and critics came to mind:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

-Teddy Roosevelt

I suspect that my departing friends must be feeling the satisfaction of leaving the arena with their heads held high.