Excerpt from Firefighter Zen: A field Guide to Thriving in Tough Times

THE JOY OF FIREFIGHTING: AN EXCERPT FROM FIREFIGHTER ZEN BY HERSCH WILSON

We had a car crash in the middle of an autumn night. We were a little ramped up because the call had gone out “young children involved.” As I drove to the scene, I felt anxiety building. There was that sinking feeling that this would be another bad call. I got there, saw the wrecked car, checked in with command, and was assigned patient care for one of the young girls. The chief told me that she was about eight years old, status unknown. I jogged down to the car, buckling my bunker jacket. I opened the car door and saw the little girl, who appeared uninjured but teary-eyed. I said, “Hi, my name is Hersch. I’m with the fire department. Are you okay?” In response, she just leaped into my arms, almost knocking me over. I was so relieved. She tightly held on to me, and I carried her across the median to the waiting ambulance. She was fine, and I thought, Best call ever!

It was such a simple thing. Not the most dramatic, nor the most memorable, emergency of my thirty-plus years as a firefighter, but one that sums up the joy that can come from first responding. There is darkness, tragedy, and suffering, to be sure. But every once in a while, a child leaps into your arms. And at that moment, you know you are doing the work you are meant to do, and that feeling is joy.

This is the thesis of this book. Life brings with it anxiety, suffering, and tragedy; stuff happens. The world feels a mess. Our lives turn on that dime. Yet we each have the ability and the capacity to find joy.
Here is the promise of this book. If we accept life for what it is, with no illusions, if we can keep our perspective when all around us individuals are losing theirs, if we take as fact that we will suffer and grieve, and finally, if we deeply commit to the understanding that the highest calling is service to others, then we have a shot at finding joy.

This is what being a volunteer firefighter has taught me, and I want to share these lessons with you.

Be brave. Be kind. Fight fires.

Excerpted from the book Firefighter Zen. Copyright © 2020 by Hersch Wilson. Printed with permission from New World Library