| Have you ever wondered how would survive in a | | | | 1973, Stockdale lived out the war without any |
| hostage situation? Being captured and held as | | | | prisoner's rights, no set release date, and |
| a hostage by terrorists? What would give you | | | | no certainty as to whether he would even |
| the will to survive and stay alive? | | | | survive to see his family again. |
| | | | |
| Make a mental list of memories, loved ones, | | | | Stockdale had an additional challenge. As the |
| beliefs, techniques that would keep you alive | | | | highest ranking officer, he had to also help |
| if taken hostage or a prisoner of war. In | | | | his own servicemen survive their ordeals. He |
| todays uncertain world there is a reasonable | | | | instituted rules that would help people to |
| chance that someone we know will be one or | | | | deal with torture (no one can resist torture |
| two degrees removed from a hostage, a bomb | | | | indefinitely, so he created a step-wise |
| blast victim or a prisoner of war (POW). | | | | systemafter x minutes, you can say certain |
| | | | thingsthat gave the men milestones to survive |
| My own grandfather was a Maori prisoner of | | | | toward). He instituted an elaborate internal |
| war during World War 2. Taken prisoner by the | | | | communications system to reduce the sense of |
| Germans during the Crete campaign, he had to | | | | isolation that their captors tried to create, |
| endure the harsh conditions as well as the | | | | which used a five-by-five matrix of tap codes |
| humiliation of being taken prisoner. A key | | | | for alpha characters. (Tap-tap equals the |
| lesson I learnt from his experiences and | | | | letter a, tap-pause-tap-tap equals the letter |
| others was the power of the mind to transcend | | | | b, tap-tap-pause-tap equals the letter f, and |
| ones physical situation. A bare cell, little | | | | so forth, for 25 letters, c doubling for k.) |
| food, psychological and physical | | | | After his release, Stockdale became the first |
| mistreatment. Reducing a human being into an | | | | three-star officer in the history of the US |
| object of no more significance than a | | | | Navy to wear both aviator wings and the |
| cockroach. He had to look deep within himself | | | | Congressional Medal of Honor. Like many |
| to endure his plight and make some sense of | | | | others, he lived to tell and inspire others |
| his suffering. | | | | of his POW experiences. |
| | | | |
| Other examples come to mind. | | | | What can we learn from these prisoner of war |
| | | | experiences? |
| Major James Nesbeth spent seven years as a | | | | |
| prisoner of war in North Vietnam. During | | | | I believe it illustrates the power of our |
| those seven years, he was imprisoned in a | | | | mind to transcend our current circumstances. |
| cage that was approximately four and one-half | | | | We dont need to be a prisoner of war to learn |
| feet high and five long. During almost the | | | | this. We sometimes imprison ourselves with |
| entire time he was imprisoned he saw no one, | | | | our own fears, our own limiting thoughts. |
| talked to no one and experience no physical | | | | Thoughts like: |
| activity. In order to keep his sanity and his | | | | |
| mind active, he used the art of | | | | - I can never be rich! |
| visualisation. | | | | |
| | | | - I will never get out of this dump! |
| Everyday in his mind, he would play a game of | | | | |
| golf. A full 18-hole game at his favourite | | | | - My life sucks! |
| green. In his mind, he would create the | | | | |
| trees, the smell of the freshly trimmed | | | | - I blame my mother for my weight problem! |
| grass, the wind, the songs of the birds. He | | | | |
| created different weather conditions windy | | | | I would say to the above, toughen up and get |
| spring days, overcast winter days and sunny | | | | a life. Weak thinking begets weak results. |
| summer mornings. He felt the grip of the club | | | | Feel sorry for yourself for a moment and then |
| in his hands as he played his shots in his | | | | get over it. This type of repetitive sorry |
| mind. The set-up, the down-swing and the | | | | thinking would create a loss of hope in a POW |
| follow-through on each shot. Watched the ball | | | | and lessen their chances of survival. |
| arc down the fairway and land at the exact | | | | |
| spot he had selected. All in his mind. | | | | Also we can create our own internal mind |
| | | | ritual that we can turn into a daily mental |
| He did this seven days a week. Four hours a | | | | discipline. Go inside your own mind and |
| day. Eighteen holes. Seven years. When Major | | | | create your desired outcomes. Live the dream |
| Nesbeth was finally released, he found that | | | | inside your own mind. Change it daily by |
| he had cut 20 strokes off his golfing average | | | | adding something new. Make it fun. Make it |
| without having touched a golf club in seven | | | | short or as long as you like. 5-10 minutes a |
| years. | | | | day. |
| | | | |
| Another example is Admiral Jim Stockdale, who | | | | I believe these inspiring prisoner of war |
| was the highest ranking United States | | | | stories shows us clearly that an enduring |
| military officer in the Hanoi Hilton | | | | faith, an unyielding will to succeed combined |
| prisoner-of-war camp during the height of the | | | | with a daily mental discipline gives us the |
| Vietnam War. Tortured over 20 times during | | | | power to overcome incredible odds. |
| his eight-year imprisonment from 1965 to | | | | |