The Mentality of a Gibbush

Last week I had the opportunity to try out in my second gibbush (a tryout), and it was nothing like the first. After drafting to Tzanhanim (Paratroopers) on Thursday the 7th of April, all draftees had the opportunity to try out for the special units within Tzanhanim and those you can get to from the Tzanchanim gibbush. This 2.5 day tryout was absolutely nothing like the first gibbush I did, and tested mine and everybody's physical, mental, and social abilities. As this gibbush was 2.5 days long, I am not going to sit here and describe every detail like I did for the previous one in February, but rather the mentality throughout and what it meant to be participating in a tryout of this magnitude. Anyone who asked me what the difference between this gibbush and the previous one was, I simply said that it was the difference between a sprint and a marathon. In February, the physical component lasted about two hours, and it was extremely tough. Imagine the toughest workouts you've done, where you give it 100% and even more. Maybe those workouts last 30 minutes, 45, maybe an hour at most. There is only a certain amount of time where one can give it 100%, and giving that effort for two hours was certainly not easy. However, at the end of the day it was a sprint, and using your adrenaline to push through the two hours was certainly necessary, and the pain and soreness came after when the adrenaline went away. This gibbush that i just did was nothing like a sprint, and everything like a marathon. At least four times the amount of sprints and crawls, and added physical tasks that we didn't do at all during the previous gibbush. It obviously makes sense. If this was supposed to be a tryout for higher caliber units, the level of physicality was certainly going to be at a much higher degree. Furthermore, part of the goal of this gibbush was to weed out the weaker throughout the 2.5 days, in order to show the judges who was most equipped and capable to be accepted into these units. Even if one doesn't give it their all and do amazing in this gibbush, simply doing everything you were asked to do, and finishing the tryout, was enough to make someone exhausted. At the end of the gibbush, there were about 40% less people than those who started, many of whom decided this wasn't for them or it was two hard, and a few of whom were asked to leave. On Sunday April 10th we went to bed at 11pm and were woken up at 1am. We knew we were going to be woken up within a few hours, and therefore I couldn't fall asleep. At 1:00am we all got out of bed, made our way to the big basketball court, and after an hour of splitting everyone up and figuring out logistics, we were heading to the fields by 2:30/3:00. We then did physical tasks until 11 that morning where they put us to bed until 6 in the evening. We woke up, set up tents outside, and then did about 2 hours of physical activities, essentially the same type of gibbush I did in February. They put us to bed at 10:30 in those tents we set up, and then at 1:30 in the morning we were woken up for the hardest section of the gibbush, which was physical tests until we went back to bed at 10 in the morning. These components consisted of sprints, crawls, running with sandbags over our heads, random push ups and other strength workouts, and hour long masa'ot (treks) where we are carrying tons of weight and a stretcher filled with sandbags. After going to bed at 10 that morning, we were done with the physical component and slept until 4pm. We woke up to do some random non-physical tests, went to bed in those tents in what might have been one of the coldest nights sleep of my life, and then woke up at 6am Wednesday morning for a morning of interviews with the judges. I am not sure how I made this gibbush sound in writing, as I only gave a brief overview, but it was 100% one of the hardest things I have ever done. The physical pain after a few hours of hard work seeps into your body, and the will to keep going is what pushes you on. Or, as they say at these tryouts, hakol ba'rosh (all in your head). At the end of the day, that saying is right. No matter who you are, whether you're in prime physical shape or not, everyone is going to feel pain. It is important to drink water and stretch at every opportunity you get, but the pain and soreness will still remain and will probably grow throughout. For me, and I am not someone who loves pain to any degree, the best way to keep going is to just not think of it. I have gotten to the point with my body where I can tell if something is just really sore or overused, and whether something is in real serious pain that I need to see a doctor. In this case, the pain was simply from over using my muscles and I knew that. However, even if my leg felt pain or soreness, it didn't mean that I couldn't physically move it to run another sprint. Therefore, as I looked to my right and left, and saw other people physically pushing themselves, I knew that the little bit of pain wouldn't stop me from pushing through. Furthemore, I knew that I'd have time to rest after the gibbush, and if this is my one chance to shine, I will give it my all unless I feel something dangerous in my body, which I never felt at all throughout the gibbush. Additionally, part of the mentality is the competition. If I was alone in this gibbush, there is no way I would have been able to do well or even finish. However, when I look to my sides and see other people doing it, I know quite simply that I am capable as well. Furthermore, these other individuals push me to be more competitive because while I respect their hard work, I want to beat them. I want to be first, or I at least want to beat the guy next to me. This mentality pushed me to give it my all throughout the gibbush, always doing well in the physical components, and even if not, always showing that I am giving nothing less than 100%. At the end of the day, this experience was one of the hardest and most fulfilling of my life. After it was over, the amount of relief and pride I felt was tremendous, and I couldn't believe I was able to maintain that standard of physical exertion for that long.

Today is the 23rd of April, and tomorrow when we return to base, on the 24th, we will find out if we made one of the units, and if so which one. I am very excited, and despite the outcome, I know I gave it 100% and that's all I can expect of myself. Stay tuned to see what happens, it is going to be one exciting day!

*First real meal after the Gibbush, was maybe better than anything I've ever eaten