The Present Moment – Lessons Learned from the Range

Present moment. We don’t have the future in this moment. We don’t have the past. We have the present. We have now.

Thinking about the future beyond what we need to do for our lives, creates worry. Worry wastes our valuable energy. Thinking about and replaying the past, perhaps reliving and beating ourselves up over things that have happened or things we would have done differently, or what we feel someone else has done to us or should have done differently causes needless suffering. “Should’ing” all over ourselves. We are the only animal that beats ourselves up over our past mistakes. If an animal makes that mistake, they move on – they are in the present moment.

When I’m shooting, it is very much an exercise in staying in the present moment. My meditative skills help my shooting. My shooting helps further train my mind and thoughts to stay in the present moment. Sometimes I feel that my shooting is even a greater help in this regard than my morning yoga practice. Completely different feel to both, but absolutely the same ideas in play.

When you have a firearm in your hands, you can’t be thinking about what did or didn’t happen at work, what things you need to get done on your to-do list or how behind you feel in all of the things you want to get done. There is too much responsibility that comes with holding something in your hand that has such physical power. And there are too many little things to focus on to bring it all together for the shot to go off safely and accurately on target. (What a metaphor for life too, right?!)

Focus is absolutely required when shooting a firearm. It requires the right preparation, the right grip, a gentle and constant press on the trigger, and when the round breaks from the gun, you’re still not done. It also requires proper follow through to make sure you’re set up for the next shot and that you don’t get in the bad habit of moving the gun too soon and throwing off your shot. 

It also reminds me of Hunt Seat in college, where I was jumping fences. When you got over the jump, you kept your head up and immediately turned your head and eyes to where you wanted to go, where you wanted the horse to go. You focus on where you want to go, and nothing else. Same thing here. You keep your focus on where you want the shot to go, keeping your sights aligned on target with gentle consistent movement. Just as you keep your focus on where you want to go in life. (By the way, I adored jumping and have taken up Hunt Seat riding again!)

The first time I shot my Glock 43, which is a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, was at the end of the pistol training at the range on July 24, 2015. It was an eight-hour class, four hours on two nights. At the end of our second night, we had shot .22 caliber semi-automatics, which was great and went well. There definitely was an adrenaline rush, which I have to say that I loved. I also loved the smell and what happens when a shot goes off. I didn’t mind getting my hands dirty, but I always was a bit of a tomboy as a child.

The difference between shooting a .22 and a 9 mm, particularly when you had never shot a pistol before, is a big difference. After the rounds with the .22, my instructor had me get out my own gun, and he helped me with it. He coached me through shooting my first six rounds from my own gun that night. He started off by telling me that we would try two rounds, and if it scared me that we would stop and put the gun away as he did not want that to ruin me for shooting in the future.

There really is that big of a difference in the sound, the feel, the pressure of the trigger, the recoil, vibration and the sheer power of the gun. He asked me if it would be better if he shot my gun first or if I would be o.k. to do it myself first. I said I didn’t think it would make a difference either way, and he said to definitely be the first to shoot my own gun then.

When I went to shoot the first round (and each subsequent round), he reminded me about staying in the present moment. Align your sights, press gently, take the slack out of the trigger, press, press, press, it will go off when it goes off, press, press…

Bam!

Wow. Now that? That. That was something else! It totally made my socks go up and down, lol, as an old co-worker used to say.

He told me I wasn’t afraid of it; he was quite pleased. I was super pleased, though my eyes were probably a little glazed over by then.

Then he taught me to mimic a stronger grip by a push pull with my two hands on the pistol. Second round. Very nice. By the time we were done with six rounds, time seemed so fast and so slow at the same time. There was nothing but that moment, in that stall, in this weird communion with my pistol, and hearing his voice. If my mind would try to think or anticipate the shot, I heard his voice.

I loved everything about it! Absolutely. Everything. I was hooked!

You’re supposed to be surprised when the shot breaks from the pistol. Why? If you anticipate the shot, you can end up pulling the trigger faster, or you might move the pistol early, misalign your sights and shoot off target.  Stay in the present moment. Don’t rush. It will happen when it happens. Be patient.  

When I was in high school, I didn’t always have the most patience, I used to joke with my friend about my “id” taking over. “Id” was Sigmund Freud’s psychological term for the part of the self that wants immediate gratification and has a great focus on the physical and the subconscious. The idea of patience really works for me in shooting, which is a great metaphor and lesson for life. Patience is a virtue, which also was a focus of our work when I was in Job’s Daughters (a Masonic organization for girls).

All happens in its own time, in its right time, in its natural time.

This is also ties into the idea of not having expectations. We often have expectations of ourselves and of others. Expectations create conditions. We have conditions on our love, even on our love for ourselves. i.e. “I’ll only love myself if XYZ,” and insert your poison there. Conditions versus unconditional love.

Having expectations creates unhappiness. Being free of expectations leaves us free to be who we are, and it frees others to be who they are.  It leaves us free to love ourselves and to be happy, living our life fully in each moment. Taking our time, squeezing all the sweet juices out of life and savoring it. Taking time to press the trigger, gently, slowly and enjoying the shot when it happens, in its own time.

Anticipating the shot, what it will be like, when it’s going to go off, all of that is having expectations, which throws off your aim and your shot. Another lesson and a great reinforcement for how I choose to live my life – stay in the moment, do not have expectations and don’t take anything personally. What others do or do not do has nothing to do with you. It is about them.

Your expectations create a story about how someone else’s actions are about you. They are not about you. The gun doesn’t care about your story. You use your expectations to create chains. Release your expectations and you find freedom and happiness.

I started taking weekly private lessons after that and trained three to four times a week for years. So much has evolved, and I’ve grown as a shooter. At this point I’m a certified instructor with several certifications and lots of training. I definitely have my “10,000 hours in” on shooting. Yet the fundamentals remain the same and so does shooting as a metaphor for life. 

I love thinking back to my first private lesson in August 2015. In that lesson, there was a regular target, and I was supposed to show my instructor how I was shooting. He had me shoot a magazine, which in that case was six rounds. I did that. He had two suggestions. A slight change in my body position, which was awesome and more natural and comfortable.

Then the other was something he noticed I was doing when shooting. After the shot went off, I would pause before getting my sights aligned again to see where the shot went. You can imagine from a practical standpoint, if you ever really need to use your gun, having that muscle memory of that pause is not a good thing – you need to immediately get back on target so you can shoot again. I tried it without the pause, getting my sights aligned and back on target, and it was amazing. He was excited, wadded up the paper target, put up a cardboard competition target and said “we’re moving!” He taught me in that first lesson how to move and shoot at the same time.  

I think this was another great metaphor for life. Doing the work, then looking at the outcome before continuing the work – i.e. looking to or worrying on the past and not staying in the present moment. You can’t do anything about the past, all you can do is stay in the moment and get yourself together, work your plan. Or in this case, get your sights aligned on the target and press the trigger, do the work. You can’t do anything about where the prior shot went, and you can assess it later for ways to improve once you’re done with the work.

In my life I never thought I would do this. It completely surprised me. I love it and am passionate about it, and I help other women learn and empower themselves through shooting. For several years now I’ve been the Chapter Leader Instructor for the St. Louis Chapter of The Well Armed Woman, empowering and educating women. Even after all this time, I’m still in awe each time I press the trigger and the shot goes off. It is pretty freaking awesome to be honest.

The control and presence required for the outcome I want, is also another great metaphor for life. Presence. There is so much in that word.

Sometimes people look at me, particularly men, and though they try to hide it and are quite respectful, I can see that they get a kick out of it. I get a lot of smiles. It doesn’t bother me. I look at it from someone else’s perspective. Here’s this little 5’2″ blonde girl, red boots, winning smile (so I’m told!), and she does this thing…and she is doing it so well. It’s just that it’s unexpected. I don’t mind delivering the unexpected. It’s kind of fun being a surprise, an enigma or mystery. Kind of like how people have viewed me as a lobbyist over my career too. 

I do so many different things, and love so many things in life, and you just never know what you’ll learn about me next. Of course, neither do I – who knows what I’ll learn about myself next. And that? That is priceless.