I had the pleasure of catching up with an old high school friend and fellow Marine.  We talked about how we have brought work stress home and it has affected our families.  We talked about stepping out of our comfort zone and working toward what our heart is telling us to do; while we will have others trying to bring us back down like crabs in a bucket.  A part of the discussion was around our embarrassment for thinking we were much further than other people we went to high school with, 20 years later.

In this episode I also talked about the silent killer, stress.  We are constantly focused on outside sources that affect our stress.  But we have the ability to decide to focus internally and destress.  This may not be an easy feat to begin with, but it takes simple steps.

We're a lot like coke bottles...when you shake up a two liter bottle of coke, what happens?  The inside gets pressurized, the outside becomes rigid, less flexible.  Then we pop the cap and the explosion happens, right?

Well when we don't talk about the things we're dealing with internally, we do the same thing.  We build up pressure on the inside.  We become toxic, rigid, negative on the outside.  Then something triggers us and the explosion occurs.  That can look like verbal abuse on ourselves or others, physical abuse on ourselves or others, child abuse, domestic abuse, addiction, rage, murder, or suicide.

But what happens when you pour a little out of the coke bottle at a time, then try to shake it?  Eventually, you get a little hiss or nothing at all.

Same thing when we talk about things.  We pour a little of ourselves out at a time and eventually we don't get triggered.  Eventually, we are no longer suicidal.

In this episode, there are a few ways to truly combat suicide.  

After I left the Marine Corps, I had a new normal.  But there was another normal, a comfort zone that I lived in from the time of my father's death to just a couple years ago.  And in that comfort zone, I blamed everybody and everything, no ownership, anger and victimhood.  Fortunately, I was able to pull out of that, visit my uncomfort zone several times to grow psychologically, and now impact other veterans.

My calling as a coach was incomplete.  I knew I was meant to be a coach, just not sure where I fit in.  Well that chapter of the saga is over.  The realization that I need to be a Veteran Mindset Coach hit me like a ton of bricks.  

This is an introduction to me, my challenges and failures, and how I navigated through those challenges in order to live a positive, fulfilled life.  This is the story about how I became a Veteran Mindset Coach with a mission of impacting 1,300,00 veterans in 5 years!  Stay tuned for more conversations, insights, and stories about challenges veterans have and continue to face, tragedies of death, and victories over challenges!  

If you are a veteran, active duty or reservist, join my Facebook Group Vets Mentoring Vets!