(no subject)

Oh, that's right, about the soldiers... it made me think of boot-camp, and why that seems so appealing to some people, in spite of all the arduousness and lack of freedoms it entails.

When one is a soldier going through basic training, one is paid attention to. One is definitely not ignored. If you do something wrong, you'll get reprimanded. If you do the "right" things, you'll get praised, or at least you'll feel good from knowing you did well enough to not be one of the ones being reprimanded, and you feel good from succeeding in doing the difficult tasks demanded of you. Even when you don't succeed, the drill sergeants and other people in charge seem to believe in you; they believe that you can succeed, and they provide you with the motivation to do so. And you know that even when the sergeants are shouting and yelling at you, they aren't doing it with malice... or at least, that is the way it is made to seem.

And you know that the physical activity will result in your body becoming stronger and fitter. If you believe that you will survive and succeed, anyway.

And you know that it is just a temporary thing... something that will feel like a badge of honor, of distinction afterwards.