No matter how busy your department and firehouse is chances are you have some downtime each day and sometimes quite a bit. What are we doing with that time? Is the time we spend growing, learning, and getting better at the job comparable to the amount we spend griping about the department, society, politics, and so on? If we are truly doing this to help others then we better start focusing on being ready when called upon to help others. Put some time and effort into the job, don’t rely on the “I can turn it on when I’m required to” mentality. That is only an excuse to mask laziness.
Be intentional about controlling your time or something else will control it for you.
No matter where or what you came from, great things can come from you!