Random thought of 12 Nov 2007

Music: Nagareboshi
Morning of 12112007, i was waiting at the Harbourfront bus stop for the transport to work.

It was at this time when my thoughts wandered to my old friend from the military, Jeremy CCC.

Strangely enough, he was later qualified, first as his name sake, a CCC, (Composite Crew Chief), then as a DCC (Dedicated Crew Chief).

I remembered an incident while i was nearing the end of my term there.

It was the dreaded IPPT again and Jeremy did well in most of the tests, easily aced them, i believe.

Then came the dreaded 2.4K run. I was at the finishing point, waiting for him to come in, with some of the stragglers. Some of the 40-ish pilots had already finished at the forefront of the race.

Then i saw him... it would not be long before he reached, but time was running out.

The scythe of failure was poised to strike.

Ignoring the fact that he was in coverall and not jogging attire, a lone spec ran out to cheer and egg him on. The Force was a place of discipline and that necessitated compliance to the proper attire for the relevant event.

The spec could have been caught and booked, followed by confinement. He should be aware of that.

But he didn't care.

He was running with a team member, his 'family'. And he was not about to see him fail.

"C'mon, just a bit more, you can do it" he was heard saying.

The tired runner panted'"i can't, i'm too tired..."

"C'mon, just a bit more... then you can forget about this shit! No need to go RT!"

"cannot ah, too shag already, i want to give up", he weezed.

"look, i am PES C and yet i am running with you, you can one, last 100m, chiong!!" yelled the spec.

With the last of his strength, Jeremy gave all he had. Crossing the finishing line, he ran towards the tree and lean against it. More like crash actually.

It seems like he passed! He was relieved but also totally worn out. The temptation to just lie down was great, but he fought against it.

Afterall, he has broken through his mental limitations of himself. He can do it.

The human body can achieve so much more than the mind thinks it can.

Do not under-estimate yourself.