"And that was victory. The freedom to sprawl loosely upon a city street, heat his coffee and eat a can of beans ... with no enemy bullets forcing him to toss the can aside while diving behind another wall for momentary survival."

David Douglas Duncan

This is an interesting little vignette. It stands on its own, and doesn't require much explanation. For a soldier, it is an obvious statement: the comfort of not being shot at is a sweet reward of victory. But what is the real victory here? It is peace: a moment without threat, or pressure, or anxiety and stress, to use as you please. You, too, are "under fire," though in a different way. Those of us blessed to not be on the battlefield create our own threats through worry, stress, boredom [which is more stressful than you may give it credit as being], and our insidious habit of trying to save the world and cram 20- gallons of stuff a day under our 10-gallon hats. It is imperative to your health and well-being that you find a way to garner some "peace victories" every day. Even if it is only five minutes, do it. Five minutes where you aren't diving for cover from some real or imagined problem; five minutes when you can mentally, physically, and emotionally "sprawl" in freedom. Little victories like these refresh you, and have a miraculous way of of multiplying when a conscious effort is made to achieve them. So, take five minutes of silence, (even if you have to hide in the closet), and taste the sweet taste of victory - PEACE - and your life, and the lives of those around you, will be much better for it.