Taking care of yourself is essential, but it’s not enough to simply know you should. Like any critical mission, you need a guiding force — your why.
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. - Nietzsche
Nietzsche’s words remind us that purpose is what drives us. For many of us, that purpose is fueled by a desire for adventure. Whether we realize it or not, there’s an adventurer within each of us, waiting to emerge.
Our modern world tends to tuck that side of us into creatures of comfort, but it is there, waiting. The second quarter of my life was dedicated to public safety, working as a police officer, a career not for the faint of heart. It is a profession that draws in the adventurer, the restless.
It is also a career that can destroy a person’s health and mental well-being if preventative care and active maintenance are not incorporated into a daily wellness plan. I deliberately use the word 'plan' instead of 'routine' because routines can become stale or inflexible, whereas a well-thought-out plan allows for adaptation when life throws curveballs. Like the cliche, “No traffic stop is ever routine,” the same holds for proactive personal care.
In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. - Dwight Eisenhower
The critical concept: The key isn't in creating a perfect plan — it's in the act of planning itself. Every cop knows Murphy’s Law: things rarely go exactly as planned. But without a plan, we have nothing to adjust when things go sideways.
Regarding your wellness as a police officer, no plan will go exactly as envisioned. Your shifts will change, crises will arise, and unforeseen stressors will impact your daily life — however, creating a plan forces you to engage with your well-being. You’re not just passively hoping to stay healthy; you’re actively setting goals, thinking about what works, and identifying what doesn’t. This engagement is what matters most. It allows you to assess, adjust, and realign your efforts when life throws you off course.
The beauty of planning lies in its flexibility. Just like adjusting strategies on the job when a call doesn't go as expected, your wellness plan isn’t meant to be rigid. It’s intended to guide you, helping you stay grounded in your goals while allowing room for adaptability.
"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change." Charles Darwin
Planning keeps you in tune with your mental and physical health, so when challenges arise, you're prepared to adjust, not abandon your goals altogether. A plan ensures that your wellness remains a priority, regardless of the obstacles you face on duty or in life. But it all starts with the planning process, preceded by your why!
Rock Harbor Lighthouse, Isle Royale National Park - Image by Patrick Flannelly
The Rock Harbor Lighthouse is located on the south side of Isle Royale National Park, which is located in Lake Superior. It is the fourth-largest lake island in the world, and there are only two ways to reach it: by boat or seaplane. Aside from the seasonal weather restrictions, this is likely why it is the least visited national park. But it is a place of serene beauty. It had been on my bucket list for twenty-five years until a few weeks ago when I planned a backpacking trip there with my oldest son.
What’s your 'why'? What drives you to maintain your physical and mental well-being?
Spending quality time with my family well into the third and fourth quarters of my life has been my why, my lighthouse. I have dedicated significant time, energy, effort, and resources to maintaining a high level of personal wellness. At the beginning of my career, I made this promise to myself in a not-too-different location: the backcountry of Grand Teton National Park. That trip was with a lifelong friend and a fellow cop. Being younger then, the physical nature of the task was not as challenging, but I knew that if I wanted to return someday with my own family, I would need to prepare for the inevitable tax that Father Time would extoll.
Carrying a fifty-pound backpack across the backcountry, up and down mountain trails, for miles on end is not easy. But then again, neither was working night shifts for years on end, wearing body armor, and carrying twenty pounds of weapons and gear strapped to my body. Both carry with them the adventure of heading toward the unknown and unknowable. Training, preparation, and consistent dedication lead to success and survival in both environments.
Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake on the planet, may seem calm on the surface — but beneath, nearly six hundred shipwrecks remind us of its power. Just like life and policing, calm can quickly turn to chaos.
Sunrise at the Daisy Farm Campground, Isle Royale - Image by Patrick Flannelly
In this way, it resembles a career in policing. There are calm days, but storms can arise quickly with little warning. If caught unprepared and unaware, people can soon find themselves in dire peril. When storms occur, rogue waves can reach nearly thirty feet, and it is suspected that one of these was likely what pulled under the twenty-nine Souls and the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early
Imagine a lone seaship battling relentless waves and unpredictable storms. The night is pitch black, and the crew struggles to navigate the chaos without a clear sense of direction. Yet, through the tempest and turmoil, a steady beacon shines in the distance — a lighthouse standing tall on the shore. Its light cuts through the darkness, providing not only direction but reassurance. The ship may not have a perfect course, but the lighthouse remains a constant guide, offering a point of reference amidst the chaos. The crew adjusts their sails, constantly recalibrating their path, but they never lose sight of the lighthouse. They know they will eventually find their way to safety if they stay focused on that beacon.
Imagine your wellness and self-care as that lighthouse, a fixed and reliable beacon, even when life throws its most challenging storms at you. In law enforcement, the demands on your mind and body are immense, often leaving you to navigate treacherous emotional waters and physical exhaustion. You may not always know what challenges lie ahead, but a well-crafted wellness plan serves as your lighthouse, a point of guidance that keeps you from drifting too far. Just as the ship can adjust its path while keeping an eye on the lighthouse, your wellness plan allows you to adapt as life’s pressures ebb and flow.
In this sense, wellness is not about having a flawless plan but a fixed point to aim for. It keeps all aspects of your life—physical health, mental resilience, emotional well-being—on track. Like the lighthouse, your wellness plan is always there, reminding you of your direction and offering a steady light in moments of uncertainty — a beacon for your why.
Without a constant reminder of your why, it is easy to become a ship without a sail. The winds will take you wherever they go, not necessarily where you want to go. Leaving your destination to chance is not a plan; failing to plan is planning to fail.
Before I conclude, I want to add some quick context to the video at the beginning and let you reflect with a few questions. The pack I was carrying weighed just under fifty pounds. The footage was captured a short time after the first leg of our hike, about three miles into, which eventually led to about 12 miles on the day. The temperature was about 85 degrees.
Self-Reflection:
If you wanted to go hiking or backpacking tomorrow, could you carry a fifty-pound pack five to ten miles over moderately difficult trails?
If not, what are your limiting factors? Is it fitness, endurance, health or physical ailments, or other internal or external limitations?
If you are not confident this is something you could physically complete, as a First Responder, do you feel any personal responsibility to correct this fitness deficiency?
If you think this is an irrelevant question or discussion, think about it this way. The American Heart Association, the World Health Organization, and others, recommened that everyone walk a minimum of 10,000 steps per day. Why? It is a general recommendation that will help people avoid heart disease and other maladies through basic exercise. Of course there are other things everyone can and should be doing, but this is a minimum recommendation for healthy adults. The average persons stride length at 10k steps would equate to about four or five miles of walking per day.
Walking requires no equipment, no gym membership, and there is no barrier to entry, for anyone. It is one of the most fundamental forms of exercise there is. For officers who don’t feel like they have time to workout due to busy work and life schedules, a simple walk around the block, on foot patrol, will get you well on your way to hitting 10k steps! It will help you clear your head, calm your nervous system, and improve your circulation. It will make you feel better!
Now, imagine a walk into the beautiful wilderness, where there are no machines, few people, and nothing buy mother nature herself. The sound that will most likely capture your attention first is silence. If you haven’t been a place like this in a while, you’ll know right away when you find it. The silence will make your ears ring. It is a surreal experience in a world full of noise. It is peaceful.
Grant Teton National Park, Image by Patrick Flannelly
Now, imagine sharing that experience with the people who matter the most to you. This is why I have spent the last thirty-five years training. So when I get to these places, I can leave everything else behind, carry what I need, and use my own two feet to find beauty and solitude in places most people will never know even exist.
No matter what you why is, where your lighthouse beacon is guiding you, my hope is that light will burn bright for you long into retirement, into the fourth quarter of life, so that you can share what you have learned on this earth with the ones who mean the most to you.
Start small — maybe with a walk today. Let it be the first step toward honoring your why, your lighthouse. Each step brings you closer to the life and the future you’re working to protect.
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