Find Strength in Your Transition
Find Strength in Your Transition
Transcript
There's a great novel about the Battle of Thermopylae called Gates of Fire. And in the book, the author, Steven Pressfield, describes a scene where several of the Spartan warriors are sitting around a campfire after the second day of fighting. At this time, the Spartans know that they're surrounded and that they're going to die the next day.
So one of the Spartan warriors sitting around the fire was not actually born in Greece, but rather he was a journeyman who ended up settling in Sparta and then subsequently enlisting in the army. And he came to realize that there was something very unique about Spartan warriors, that through their training and the battles that they fought together, that they created this thing that he called this glue. And this glue-- it was a special bond that was created between the Spartan warriors. And that made them these just incredible warriors.
And this bond wasn't-- it wasn't hatred. And it wasn't an indifference to killing. It wasn't evil in any way. This bond was actually love. And these Spartan warriors would rather die themselves than see the man to the left and to the right be harmed or killed in any way.
So it wasn't about hating what was in front of them, but it was loving who was beside them. In other words, they created a tribe, just like how many of us develop these types of strong relationships at the fire team, at the squad, at the platoon levels when we served. And when we peel this back just another layer and we look at what made these relationships possible, it was the willingness and the desire of service members to want to serve, to want to be part of something greater than ourselves, to want to sacrifice for the greater good. That right there is the common thread among all service members in all branches of the military and from all generations.
If there's one thing that you remember from this video, it's that we are at our strongest, we are at our best when we are helping others. Service is part of what we call ourselves. We call ourselves service members. But I've noticed that when we transition out, when we are removed from our tribe, from our purpose, from our security, we tend to forget this. We tend to forget why we joined the military in the first place.
So many of us end up going internal, meaning we begin to feel sorry for ourselves. We begin to blame others for our failures. We dwell on the negative feelings that we have rather than focusing on helping others in a positive way. We do things that we just never would have done in the military. And I can tell you, after helping thousands of veterans transition, those who go internal usually have a very rough go of it, whereas those who actively get out in their communities and focus on being a good citizen and helping others-- they are much more likely to be successful in their transition and reach their career potential.
I can guarantee two things for you right now. Struggling with your transition is perfectly normal. And you are not going to be able to make a successful transition on your own.
One very simple action you could begin to take to find strength in your transition is to focus on being a good citizen. This is one of the most basic things that we do as Americans. And it's actually one of the reasons why we chose to serve in the first place.
So even if you have no idea what you want to do for a career, even if you're struggling tremendously with your transition, focus and find a way to help others. Find a way to be a good citizen, a good neighbor, a good husband or wife. Go volunteer once a month at a local nonprofit. Get involved with your church. Go help an elderly person down the street with some chores. Make time to be present with your family.
It doesn't need to be a major undertaking. Start small, but start today. Find strength in your transition by serving your community and being a good citizen. And you will see, much like your military service, by putting others first, you will begin to create a community, a family, a support structure all around yourself. And you will begin to not only develop a reputation as someone that the community can trust and rely on, you'll also begin to discover your new purpose.
So one of the Spartan warriors sitting around the fire was not actually born in Greece, but rather he was a journeyman who ended up settling in Sparta and then subsequently enlisting in the army. And he came to realize that there was something very unique about Spartan warriors, that through their training and the battles that they fought together, that they created this thing that he called this glue. And this glue-- it was a special bond that was created between the Spartan warriors. And that made them these just incredible warriors.
And this bond wasn't-- it wasn't hatred. And it wasn't an indifference to killing. It wasn't evil in any way. This bond was actually love. And these Spartan warriors would rather die themselves than see the man to the left and to the right be harmed or killed in any way.
So it wasn't about hating what was in front of them, but it was loving who was beside them. In other words, they created a tribe, just like how many of us develop these types of strong relationships at the fire team, at the squad, at the platoon levels when we served. And when we peel this back just another layer and we look at what made these relationships possible, it was the willingness and the desire of service members to want to serve, to want to be part of something greater than ourselves, to want to sacrifice for the greater good. That right there is the common thread among all service members in all branches of the military and from all generations.
If there's one thing that you remember from this video, it's that we are at our strongest, we are at our best when we are helping others. Service is part of what we call ourselves. We call ourselves service members. But I've noticed that when we transition out, when we are removed from our tribe, from our purpose, from our security, we tend to forget this. We tend to forget why we joined the military in the first place.
So many of us end up going internal, meaning we begin to feel sorry for ourselves. We begin to blame others for our failures. We dwell on the negative feelings that we have rather than focusing on helping others in a positive way. We do things that we just never would have done in the military. And I can tell you, after helping thousands of veterans transition, those who go internal usually have a very rough go of it, whereas those who actively get out in their communities and focus on being a good citizen and helping others-- they are much more likely to be successful in their transition and reach their career potential.
I can guarantee two things for you right now. Struggling with your transition is perfectly normal. And you are not going to be able to make a successful transition on your own.
One very simple action you could begin to take to find strength in your transition is to focus on being a good citizen. This is one of the most basic things that we do as Americans. And it's actually one of the reasons why we chose to serve in the first place.
So even if you have no idea what you want to do for a career, even if you're struggling tremendously with your transition, focus and find a way to help others. Find a way to be a good citizen, a good neighbor, a good husband or wife. Go volunteer once a month at a local nonprofit. Get involved with your church. Go help an elderly person down the street with some chores. Make time to be present with your family.
It doesn't need to be a major undertaking. Start small, but start today. Find strength in your transition by serving your community and being a good citizen. And you will see, much like your military service, by putting others first, you will begin to create a community, a family, a support structure all around yourself. And you will begin to not only develop a reputation as someone that the community can trust and rely on, you'll also begin to discover your new purpose.