Active Patrolling

I find it interesting the sorts of things that come to mind.  Something I read reminded me of what I heard a Captain in the Army say decades ago.  I have never forgotten it.  He mentioned something the army did.  I have forgotten the conflict he was talking about, but I do remember the principle.
He mentioned “active patrolling.” In that instant it involved troops patrolling no mans land.  The traditional concept is that no mans land is seen as belonging to neither side.  If any-one ventures there from either side they get picked off by the enemy  (though there was a famous incident where at Christmas two sides declared a truce and celebrated Christmas with each other in no mans land.  The next day hostilities recommenced.)
What the Australuan soldiers were doing was patrolling no mans land like it was theirs.  It meant they held more ground.
The reason I think I thought of that is that so often I feel like I am maintaining rather than advancing.  I may have advanced to claim what I claim but instead of my efforts going towards more, they are going towards what I have.
I reckon for some this sort of thing does not matter.  But to me it does.  I feel I can drift and “go with the flow” or I can work towards my goals and make them happen.  Making them happen involves vigilance and ongoing activity.
It seems to me I am at my most vulnerable when I stop looking forward.  No doubt I need to ensure I hold what I have, and ensure supply lines are in order.  But I have seen it with empires and think it is true for me as an individual too, that comfortable is vulnerable.  I may enjoy a time of tranquillity, but the enemy is at the gate.
What I want is to be at the enemies gate.  R&R matters as does not over-extending, but I reckon one of the most dangerous things I can do is declare pre-mature victory.  I am a work in progress.  There are things about me that need changing for the better.
I do not bemoan what is not mine, but, where legitimate, I work to make it mine.