Pep Talk: "Never Lose Our Nerve"

This week’s Pep Talk was hatched, early morning, while staring at Vail Mountain from a hotel balcony during an annual trek to the mountains for Independence Day celebrations. If you’ve never been to Vail, Colorado and attended its July Fourth patriotic concert, put it on your bucket list. When the visiting philharmonic orchestra, often it’s Dallas’, begins to play our nation’s armed services - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and Coast Guard - hymns, rarely is there a dry eye in the amphitheater. 

For the record, I have always loved the Marine hymn the most. My late father is a Marine and I can remember, as a youngster, hearing him sing it with buddies, over beers usually, and would often join in. By the way, according to Wikipidea, the Marine hymn is the oldest official song of the United States military, here are the lyrics:

From the halls of Montezuma,

to the shores of Tripoli;

We fight our country’s battles

In the air, on land, and sea;

First to fight for right and freedom

And to keep our honor clean:

We are proud to claim the title

of United States Marine.

Our flag’s unfurled to every breeze

From dawn to setting sun;

We have fought in every clime and place

Where we could take a gun;

In the snow of far-off Northern lands

And in sunny tropic scenes;

You will find us always on the job

The United States Marines.

Here’s health to you and to our Corps

Which we are proud to serve;

In many a strife we’ve fought for life

And never lost our nerve;

If the Army and the Navy

Ever look on Heaven’s scenes;

They will find the streets are guarded

By United States Marines.

236 years ago, our nation was founded. Since then, in many a battle, men and women have fought, suffered and perished to protect the American way of life. So many words of this song resonate, but toward the end, third verse, lines three and four really stand out: “In many a strife we’ve fought for life and never lost our nerve.”

In the midst of strife, to never lose our nerve ain’t easy. It’s a tall order and takes a ton of courage, defined as “that quality of mind enabling us to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, heart and valor.” It’s sure easy to talk about encountering danger and difficulty with heart and valor, far more challenging to execute, right? When the going gets tough, how do we respond?

The challenges come from a variety of sources, emotional, physical, financial and elsewhere. Nobody is immune from the “stuff” life brings our way. Heck, sitting here on a beautiful Centennial State morning, staring at Vail Mountain bathed in early-morning sunlight, and sharing thoughts with you, conjures up images of a loved one battling cancer, challenges at work, relationships needing nurturing and other situations threatening peace of mind. I know you have “lists” too. Bless you in dealing with them.

When life throws us lemons, often at the most inopportune times, let’s take a cue from the United States Marines: encounter danger and difficulty with firmness, heart and valor. While there is no guarantee of success, the ability to never lose our nerve will serve us well in addressing whatever ails us - home, work and elsewhere.

Have a great week!