Chief David A. Ogden
Town of Windermere Police Department
From the Desk of Chief Ogden | By Chief David A. Ogden
Football keeps a statistic most people rarely notice: YAC—Yards After Contact. It measures what happens after a player gets hit. Does he go down immediately, or keep his legs moving and fight for another few yards?
Life has YAC, too.
Years ago, during SWAT School, I learned that lesson carrying a 150-pound telephone pole across a sixty-acre training range. We were exhausted, bruised, and pushed beyond what we thought were our limits. The objective wasn’t simply physical strength. It was learning to keep moving when everything in you wanted to stop.
Nearly four decades of law enforcement and plenty of personal adversity have taught me that resilience works much the same way.
Eventually, we all get hit: loss, disappointment, failure, betrayal, illness, or circumstances we never saw coming.
Resilience doesn't mean the hit doesn't hurt. And it certainly doesn't mean going it alone. Sometimes those extra yards are simply enough to reach the people who can help carry us.
But sometimes you have to lower your shoulders, lift your legs, and keep moving.
The hit isn't always what defines you. Sometimes it's the yards you gain afterward.
Regards, David A. Ogden
“Outdo one another with Honor.”
