An Army of One

Most stories I write are relatively “instant.” There are about a half dozen in my computer file that are labeled “pending.” One title in particular has been written, rewritten, and actually proofread twice. It‘s called “An Army of One.” That’s a U.S. Army slogan. So I started by opening the U.S. Army website. What an amazing “marketing machine!” From Mark Martin’s U.S. Army NASCAR racing car to the ads in magazines directed at parents (the biggest recruiting obstacles), the Army knows its mission and how to get us to identify with it as individuals. The graphics and voices reinforce it all:
“There’s strong and then there’s Army strong: opportunity to train in over 150 individual career fields; basic combat training; what it’s like being a soldier; ways to serve; weapons and technology; match your capabilities and interests; and finally, there it is—“an Army of one.”
Their phrase “an Army of One” kept coming back to me because seldom are folks motivated to stand alone and marketing folks know that. I supported my family most of my life through variations of basic merchandising and that invariably led to appealing to a “safe” group mentality. I am sitting listening to the music of the Righteous Brothers and the Beach Boys on Pandora right now because they were the “in groups” from my military days (on big reel-to-reel tape recorders). For years, my wife and I trekked to Las Vegas trade shows twice a year to capture the latest West Coast trends and hopefully introduce them to the masses back in “the hinterland.” I think of the thousands of Smurf stickers, Transformers, and Slap Bracelets that I distributed along with “the latest sunglass styles from California.”
I know just how firmly the group mentality is entrenched. I have the special privilege to chat with many folks and act as a sounding board for their ideas. Invariably most of us want someone else “to take the ball and run” with our ideas. A common desired scenario involves a committee, a ministry, a company, or a group of other individuals rallying around us to make our ideas happen. It amazes me just how few of us ever step out to try our thoughts and dreams out as individuals on a small personal basis.
I am a seasoned procrastinator and have found myself sitting and waiting “for my time.” Sometimes it’s to be recognized or “called.” In addition, I have my timid and shy side coupled with my own secret fears. Finally, I much prefer to be paired with another person and to not work alone. There are a multitude of reasons I don’t act on what is in my heart; some of them possibly actually valid.
I could live with that but I am constantly drawn to a “hungry” world that is starving for personal attention. Even General Petraeus, the great commander in Iraq and Afghanistan, had to come back to a strategy of winning the hearts and minds of individual Iraqis “one on one.” I “feel” folks crying out for just one individual to care for them personally. Yes, they can benefit and be nurtured by a host of worthwhile endeavors, ministries, and agencies and I am not in any way minimizing any of them. I would just like to encourage individuals to try out what’s in their heart in whatever small way, right now, today. The words of a close friend are forever seared in my mind when he said, “I was scared but when I stepped out and when my foot touched the ground I knew this is what I was personally called to do.” Be an “Army of One.” Perhaps your future destiny and joy hinges on taking that first step. (Be assured you’re not really alone.)