Well, he visited electronically, and spoke about his life in the military, and about the act of communication. The visit was arranged by a former student, Samantha Reposa, who is now senior adviser to the National Security Council’s communication advisor. Kirby is her boss.
The man, whom you may have seen on CNN, was personable and took time on his answers, and when it was nearly over and I asked if he had any parting words of wisdom (otherwise, we’d let him go about his day, which included a trip down on Air Force One to the land of his birth, Florida), he told a perfect anecdote.
It goes thus: You can sit on a fence and try to pick the perfect pony running by, the pony with a perfect coat, perfect mane, perfect gait, or you can just jump on a pony and see where it takes you. Jump on the pony, Kirby said. Just jump, because if you’d told the 15-year old teen in Florida he’d be flying home on Air Force One one day, he and all his peers would have laughed.
Afterward, a senior in the class told me she was almost in tears. The thought that she didn’t have to plan her every move, that life might be more interesting if she just jumped on a pony, made her happy.
So that’s the best advice I’ve heard in a while. Do you have advice you’d like to share? Share!
Thank you so much for this. I sent the link to my son, who is prone to threshold anxiety.
Let's see: Advice I've given to him:
(1) Don't forget to breathe.
(2) Willpower is built for starting or stopping: not for continuing. If there's a task you're dreading, you can just try starting it, and then if it's not working, stop again for then. (Especially if you give yourself the lead time.)
(3) Revision is a heart of writing and of life.
(4) When you get behind in a course, GO TO CLASS ANYWAY.
(He's doing as well in his first year of university as I've ever seen anyone do, and is as happy. Very and very.)
Great advice by Kirby. I would add—do not fear failure. It is part of growing and failure will make you stronger. Embrace challenges, test your gut, and enjoy life to its fullest.
“Listen, don’t just wait to talk”. I went through a lot of fairly intense training and mentoring while learning to facilitate problem solving/planning groups. This seemingly simple bit of advice (and the first thing my mentor told me) ended up being my mantra over hundreds of group sessions. On a good day, I remain conscious of it.
Listen, don't just wait to talk. I tell budding journalists that far too many conversations are spent with us waiting for someone to stop talking so we can have OUR turn to talk. That's not a good plan.
The advice I gave my kids as they were growing up and believing they had to chose the perfect job/profession right away. After graduating college with a sociology/ psychology degree, I could not find a professional job. So I first agreed to a temporary seasonal job at Caldor. Before I got past the training, I was hired to be a cashier at a supermarket. Day one of training for that I got hired as a temporary Social Worker for the State. That turned into a long term job. So take the jobs as they come and see where they lead. It’s all life’s experience. And you don’t have to stay nailed into one career.
Having a spokesperson for our government and its policies at this point in history is interesting. One who has had the opportunity to pick a pony. When did he choose? Did he close his eyes and jump? Or did his military experience have at least something to do with it? the story infers that flying on Air Force One meant this pony led to his military experience and his position now is a successful One. A dream come true! Even moving some to tears. We have a number of veterans in Veterans for Peace, many soldiers that did not have a chance to ave a chance to pick a pony, since the ponies riding by with their growing elitist attitude did not much see the issuess ahead and still do not. A good example of military propaganda, which I hope the class discussion focused on. Hey!! Open invitation for one of our members to visit electronically. We would probably even show up and bring donuts!
Maybe I wasn't clear in what happened. Adm. Kirby did not talk about specific policies, the efficacy thereof, or his feelings for. We were told prior to that would not be the topic of his conversation and the questions centered on his job and strategic communication.
As for the ponies: At the end of his talk, Adm. Kirby was giving students some advice. He talked about being poised to launch into adulthood, as he was at age 15 (the age he chose to reflect on) and he wasn't sure what he wanted to do when he joined the military, and then things went from there. He talked about the younger generation's desire to over-plan and suggested they relax and pick maybe not the prettiest pony, but instead be open to opportunities as they present themselves. As this is a room of students who will soon receive college degrees, I think the idea of choice was apt. And it meant something to one student, then it meant something to that student.
There were literally zero attempts -- none -- to convince students to join the military. None. We would not have allowed that and that was not his purpose. The students I know in that class have other plans, including government work, law school, and creating documentaries.
My father was 82nd Airborne. I agree that not all military personnel have much of a choice. My dad didn't. I don't know about Adm. Kirby, though his dad was a government attorney and I figure he ate OK. But my father was proud of his service and I am proud of him.
We study propaganda and as budding journalists, seek to identify it, but this? Was not that.
Finally: We didn't have doughnuts but I wouldn't have been opposed to someone bringing some in.
Thank you so much for this. I sent the link to my son, who is prone to threshold anxiety.
Let's see: Advice I've given to him:
(1) Don't forget to breathe.
(2) Willpower is built for starting or stopping: not for continuing. If there's a task you're dreading, you can just try starting it, and then if it's not working, stop again for then. (Especially if you give yourself the lead time.)
(3) Revision is a heart of writing and of life.
(4) When you get behind in a course, GO TO CLASS ANYWAY.
(He's doing as well in his first year of university as I've ever seen anyone do, and is as happy. Very and very.)
Lovely.
1) You can recover from anything, no matter how bad you might think things are in the moment.
1a) No matter how embarrassing or stupid a thing you think you might have done -- in time, you're the only one who will really remember it.
I have good stories that go with both of those, but no sense in dragging them up now. ;)
Oddly, I have those stories, too. They’ll make my wake more interesting.
Great advice by Kirby. I would add—do not fear failure. It is part of growing and failure will make you stronger. Embrace challenges, test your gut, and enjoy life to its fullest.
Amen.
Sorry, there’s no better advice in the world than to jump on a pony. ❤️
“Listen, don’t just wait to talk”. I went through a lot of fairly intense training and mentoring while learning to facilitate problem solving/planning groups. This seemingly simple bit of advice (and the first thing my mentor told me) ended up being my mantra over hundreds of group sessions. On a good day, I remain conscious of it.
Listen, don't just wait to talk. I tell budding journalists that far too many conversations are spent with us waiting for someone to stop talking so we can have OUR turn to talk. That's not a good plan.
The advice I gave my kids as they were growing up and believing they had to chose the perfect job/profession right away. After graduating college with a sociology/ psychology degree, I could not find a professional job. So I first agreed to a temporary seasonal job at Caldor. Before I got past the training, I was hired to be a cashier at a supermarket. Day one of training for that I got hired as a temporary Social Worker for the State. That turned into a long term job. So take the jobs as they come and see where they lead. It’s all life’s experience. And you don’t have to stay nailed into one career.
That's right. Another pony!
I’m fond of “Time wounds all heels.” As well as the job Admiral Kirby is doing with his transition to communications.
This was inspiring. A lesson learned: Keep finding a way to do what you love, despite what the haters say.
https://fb.watch/rGhA_oCI2S/
Having a spokesperson for our government and its policies at this point in history is interesting. One who has had the opportunity to pick a pony. When did he choose? Did he close his eyes and jump? Or did his military experience have at least something to do with it? the story infers that flying on Air Force One meant this pony led to his military experience and his position now is a successful One. A dream come true! Even moving some to tears. We have a number of veterans in Veterans for Peace, many soldiers that did not have a chance to ave a chance to pick a pony, since the ponies riding by with their growing elitist attitude did not much see the issuess ahead and still do not. A good example of military propaganda, which I hope the class discussion focused on. Hey!! Open invitation for one of our members to visit electronically. We would probably even show up and bring donuts!
https://peacewalk2024.org/connecticut/
Maybe I wasn't clear in what happened. Adm. Kirby did not talk about specific policies, the efficacy thereof, or his feelings for. We were told prior to that would not be the topic of his conversation and the questions centered on his job and strategic communication.
As for the ponies: At the end of his talk, Adm. Kirby was giving students some advice. He talked about being poised to launch into adulthood, as he was at age 15 (the age he chose to reflect on) and he wasn't sure what he wanted to do when he joined the military, and then things went from there. He talked about the younger generation's desire to over-plan and suggested they relax and pick maybe not the prettiest pony, but instead be open to opportunities as they present themselves. As this is a room of students who will soon receive college degrees, I think the idea of choice was apt. And it meant something to one student, then it meant something to that student.
There were literally zero attempts -- none -- to convince students to join the military. None. We would not have allowed that and that was not his purpose. The students I know in that class have other plans, including government work, law school, and creating documentaries.
My father was 82nd Airborne. I agree that not all military personnel have much of a choice. My dad didn't. I don't know about Adm. Kirby, though his dad was a government attorney and I figure he ate OK. But my father was proud of his service and I am proud of him.
We study propaganda and as budding journalists, seek to identify it, but this? Was not that.
Finally: We didn't have doughnuts but I wouldn't have been opposed to someone bringing some in.