As a young non-commissioned officer, this was one of my favorites not because it pulled rank, but because it pointed out accepting reality is necessary. A Master Chief told me this and it stuck – I was trying to buck the system somehow, as if the system would suddenly change because of my wishes. I was, of course, wrong, but that’s part of being a young NCO.

He looked at me, deadpan, after a moment of silence, and asked me, “Do you know what the size of a sperm whale’s throat is?”.

I, of course, didn’t know.

He held up his hands palm outward, his thumbs and forefingers from each hand touching, and pushed them out toward me. “This big. Do you know why?”

“No Masterchief”

He pushed his hands out at me with every word, and said slowly and firmly, “Because that’s the way it is.”

And verily, that was the way it was. Petty Officer Rampersad wasn’t going to change it by himself. Better to accept it and move on.

There’s some wiggle room here. We should question things at times, buts sometimes we don’t have the luxury of time for navel-gazing, particularly in the military, so sometimes you just accept that things are the way they are and move on. If it’s not a hill you want to die on, don’t.