In the military, a kill box is a “three-dimensional geographical area on a battlefield set up to coordinate joint air and ground fires without needing constant individual clearance.”
The Kill Box might be a city block, a valley, a beachhead, or any three-dimensional area designated on a map that allows a unit to engage the enemy within the box without requesting clearance. Once the enemy enters the box, they are free game, and you can use any available resource to eliminate them.
We can establish our own kill box to quickly identify and eliminate thoughts, habits, or actions that prevent us from winning our daily fights in the War of Life.
When we establish a kill box in combat, it needs to be far enough forward of our position to let us act before the enemy gets into the wire.
Likewise, in life we begin by recognizing that we need to notice our thoughts and opinions as they enter the kill box, not wait until they crawl into our minds and assert themselves. As Marcus Aurelius said, "External things are not the problem. It's your assessment of them. Which you can erase right now."
Or, Epictetus, "Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of them."
By keeping a thought or event at arm’s length and examining it, we can decide whether to let it pass or to eliminate it before it becomes entrenched.
This is especially useful when others present the thoughts or opinions to us. By making the opinion cross through the kill box and examining it, we can decide if it is friend or foe. We are not required to hold the same opinion as another, even if they are a friend, or family member.
―Marcus Aurelius
We should interrogate each thought or opinion that enters the kill box, asking if it is accurate, and useful. If it is both, let it in. If it is not, eliminate it.
We can do little to control what enters the kill box, but it is our decision whether to let it pass or destroy it before it takes hold.
Life is War - Fight and Win,
John - Your arms dealer for the war of life
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