Two is one and one is none

There is an old army joke about a soldier getting two wishes from a Jinn. He thinks and things and then declares I want a magazine that never ends and poof it is laying in his eager hand. The Jinn asks for the second wish and after pondering the soldier says proudly I want another one…
There is actually quite a lot of wisdom in this silly yarn. We are taught that two is one and one is none in the army but in broader terms we learn to rely on ourselves and not on our gear. Things fail break or are” loaned” by someone who thinks they know better but never tastes the dirt. What stays with you is a spirit of mistrust in everything in the beginning from the timeline your commander issues to the rifle actually shooting. When you mature by a few months you learn to attach small and shiny items to yourself by more than one mean and learn to use things to more than their intended purpose. You can open a can with the front sight of an M-16, You can put torn flesh together with Locktite glue (a historical note is that one of the original uses was just that) and you can use your mind and body for just about anything.
It is a state of mind first of using tools with your mind being one of them. Thoughts of despair frustration and vengeance are kinks in the machine you are running and as you know you cannot escape a trap leaving parts of you behind and return to normal living. Learn to harness your mind by working everything together. Your emotions and body both effect the mind and it affects them as well. Ignoring a glitch in any of them will lead to not knowing why you are angry after not eating or sleeping for a while and if one part of the chain is stretched it is soon to break.
Make it not a habit but a drill to be used when needed to report to yourself on all your systems. How am I feeling ? Am I afraid or something or angry which is the other side of the coin. Is my body suffering from bad nutrition while on a trip or deployment ? Am I bored from patrol and drift away in my mind while driving or walking ?
These simple questions take the harness from the emotions thoughts pangs and pains and places them in you. It is simple but not easy so slowly start with this process and see what it can do for you.