When I returned home from Afghanistan, I anticipated having the best year of my life with my recent promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, getting married, and surviving a combat deployment. I thought my exposure to a war-torn and under-developed country and the conditions of how the Afghan people lived would remind me of how good I have it as an American...On the contrary, I had one of the worst years of my life, as my emotions, especially anger, were out of control...

Failure can bring success but it is a painful process. The business dream I had with Lift Life Results became a nightmare quickly...

"War is a nightmare. War is awful, it is indifferent and devastating, and evil...War is hell. But war is also an incredible teacher, a brutal teacher, and it teaches you lessons that you will not forget. In war, you are forced to see humanity at its absolute worst. You are also blessed to see humanity in its most glorious moments. War teaches you about sorrow and loss and pain and it teaches you about the preciousness and fragility of human life..." (Jocko Willink)