The Captain's Command
IllustrationStory★★★★A SOLDIER one day went to the doctor. He was disturbed because he was a chain smoker and he couldn’t get rid of his habit. He had tried in the past to stop smoking but he had failed each time.
He said, “Doc, these cigarettes are killing me. You know, I’m smoking two packs a day and I can’t stop. Doc, do something. I need something to deliver me.”
The military doctor looked at him and said, “Okay, on my lapel you see two bars. Tell me what they represent.” “They represent the fact that you are a captain.” “What are you?”
The solider said, “Well, I’m a private.” “Then, who’s in charge here?”
“Well, you are, because you’re the captain.” “OK, then as your captain, I command you to stop smoking permanently, beginning right now, and you must obey my orders.”
This man who’d been smoking two packs of cigarettes a day for a long time stopped smoking on a dime because now he was talking to his captain. The doctor rather than going into his medicine chest reached out based on his authority. The man stopped smoking and never smoked again because his commanding officer said so. The young solider started off talking to his doctor.
He wound up talking to his commanding officer. When he recognized who he was talking to and allowed the captain to be the captain over him, he was able to overcome something that he hadn’t been able to overcome for a long time.
The point
A chain-smoking soldier is instantly cured when his captain simply commands him to stop, illustrating how recognizing and submitting to rightful authority brings victory over habits we cannot overcome alone.