Captain Tom's Life Lessons by Captain Tom Moore

Author:Captain Tom Moore [Moore, Captain Sir Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780241504024
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2021-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

6.

Keep an Open Mind

‘Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their minds.’

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)

My life has often felt like a series of events that have happened beyond my control. Instead of being overwhelmed, I’ve tried to face each new twist and turn with an open mind and, step by step, they have always led me somewhere new.

I suppose it’s fair to say that, because of this, I am an opportunist: if I’m offered a chance, I’ll jump at it. Whenever a challenge presents itself, I think, ‘Say yes, Tom, and then work out how to do it.’ Being spontaneous is one of the things that has kept me so young at heart.

This is because I think about life as grabbing hold of every new opportunity and running with it. You never know what might happen or who you might meet. Being open to possibilities as they come to you has the potential to make every day so much more interesting. This is a lesson we can learn too late, often long after we have dug ourselves into a rut of our own creation. The rut can relate to the daily routines we adhere to (and I am certainly guilty of that these days), but it can also relate to our attitudes and opinions about everything from work to people, preventing us from being flexible and receptive to new adventures.

Look what happened to me during the war. Out in India I was about to be given my own tank to command in the ongoing battle for Burma but when my commanding officer discovered that I knew a bit about motorbikes he switched me to training up dispatch riders instead. Instead of wallowing in my disappointment and dwelling on what could have been, I welcomed the opportunity to work with bikes again and relished the chance to bring out the full potential of men who were often completely unfamiliar with mechanics and therefore at a disadvantage to their British counterparts. That experience led me to tank training and an early return to England – a move that probably saved my life.

Being open to chances in this way means that nothing has to be off limits. If you’re out of work and want a job, then why not take any job – if there’s one to be had – and see where it leads you? Once you’ve found yourself a position, you’ll be better placed to find yourself another. And the next time you go for an interview, your prospective employer will be impressed that you were willing to take on any role.

I know this from my own experience as well as that of others. I went from a man who’d been something in the armed forces and in business to someone on the lowest rung of the ladder with no support at home or from anyone else. But I was open to anything that would keep me occupied, pay me a weekly wage and point me in the right direction.

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