Discovering that I'm a multi-potential-ite.

Yesterday, I with through this seminar called “Afterburner.” It’s essentially a group of classes put together from former veterans and USAA to teach Soldier’s how to succeed once they get out of the military. It’s an amazing seminar, and if you’re a Soldier who will be getting out soon, I HIGHLY recommend it. You will learn more in that one day, then you will going through the entire ACAP… TAP…SLAP… whatever they’re calling it now.. process.

During one of the breaks, this former F-16 pilot, who now works as a consultant, asked me “Liam… What do you want to do when you get out?” I replied… “Well… I have a general idea, but I cannot pick one thing out specifically.” He then asked “What are you good at?” I said… “well… a lot…” He said “What do you mean?” I replied, “During my time in the Army, I’ve learned how to shoot down planes, repair a radar, repair a big rig, drive a big rig, heck I even have a CDL and I’m certified to drive buses. Then, the Army taught me how to lead Soldiers, do paperwork, and some kind of cool camping tricks. That was just in the first 8 years. The next five years, I learned how to read people, identify potential insider threats, run an investigation, elicit information from people, analyze massive amounts of data, and teach other people how to do it. Not to mention, my dad taught me as a kid how to fix electronics, wire a burglar alarm, build a computer, fix a computer, plumb a house, troubleshoot a network connection, work with wood, and fix a car.” 

He looked at me kind of perplexed and then asked… “Do you have your degree?” I laughed and said… “Yeah about that. I’m on my last two classes.” He said “Oh that’s awesome! What will your degree be in?” I smirked and said “Independent studies.” He said, “I’ve never heard of that degree. What is it?” So… I answered, “It’s kind of a general education bachelors. It works with cognates. So, half of my degree is in computational science (computers), and the other half is in social sciences (people). Oh, and I also have a minor in intelligence studies. Not to mention the random other 40 college credits I have in religious studies and psychology that don’t apply to the degree. I’m probably one of the few people who has a 3.84 GPA… and 160 college credits.”  We concluded our conversation with him offering varying suggestions on possible career field, which… of course, all of them interested me, but I couldn’t single one out that I liked better over the others.

One of his suggestions was to watch “TED Talks” on the different career fields I’m interested in to maybe help narrow the field down a little bit.

So today, I did just that.

I watched about ten “Ted Talks” and I was no better off than I was before, but I came across a video that piqued my curiosity. Ironically, the title of the “Ted Talk was “Why some of us don’t have one true calling.” So of course, if I can’t pick one specific topic out on “what I want to be when I grow up…” I’m going to watch a video why I'm having a hard time figuring it out.

As it turns out… I’m a multi-potential-ite. That one 12 minute video sums up my entire life. Here, you know what, I’m not even going to say anything else about it… Just watch the video. You can find it here. 

  

So now, the question is, how do I take this new information and use it to get a job when I get out? How can I use it to find a job where I’m not going to get bored? Honestly, I think that’s my biggest fear of getting out. Getting stuck in a job that I’m bored with.

What are your thoughts?

Agape

This morning, I was hit by a few things:

1. This line from a blogpost that someone shared on facebook while she reflected on her failed relationship.

“I challenged you because I loved you. I confronted you a lot. I’m not the type of girl who nods and laughs and is always comfortable, I wasn't easy — as in, I didn't just "go with the flow.” But that’s because I craved more from you - I had opinions and big dreams for the future, I wanted the best for you. I never put up with not getting everything I deserved.”

I made a comment on it, that was perhaps a little brash, and without much explanation.  Then promptly got scolded by two friends from my youth and reminded of the difference between “Pink” and “Blue” glasses.  I probably would have just went on about my day, had it not been for that one paragraph in the blog post.
Full article here.

2. I saw that a good friend of mine is getting promoted. I had to stop myself from being jealous, since I went to the promotion board before he did, I’ve been in this rank longer than he has, not to mention the Army.  I had to remind myself, I am not entitled to a promotion, nor does the Army owe me anything. I’m proud of him for having the extra 60 points that I didn’t have, and I’m glad that he got promoted. He is a great Soldier, and he’ll do well at the next rank.

3. For the rest of the day, I sat through about an 8 hour presentation on the transition from “Military life to Civilian Life.” It was an amazing seminar lead by various former service members who all shared their experience during their transitions. Unfortunately, it’s a stark reminder that my life in the Army is drawing nigh.


This afternoon, after I was done with my class, I came back to the barracks, changed clothes, and began to reflect on the day like I often do. I thought about writing a long post explaining my position on why I think that feeling like you deserve something in a relationship other than love and respect is dangerous, and how the feeling of entitlement in a relationship... is a relationship killer.  I thought about getting promoted, I thought about getting out of the military, and then my foot kindly reminded me that I needed to elevate it. (I just had surgery if you didn’t know).

As the blood rushed from my foot back towards my brain, my thoughts began to wonder off to Lew.  In her last blog, Lew wrote about selfless love and my self-sacrificing spirit. Lew, my love, you make it easy, but I also have to admire you for yours.

You see, you agreed to marry me, even though you knew life wasn’t going to be all rainbows and unicorn farts. You married me, knowing that I am a Soldier, and that means I would be doing Soldier type things. Like deploying, going on long training missions, doing stuff that might mean life or limb, and even for having a Soldier’s vernacular which includes phrases like “Rainbows and Unicorn Farts.”   You didn’t care though. In spite of knowing that life would be hard, you still married me.
You didn’t marry me because of something you felt you deserved. You didn’t marry me because of my massive wealth, or my education, or my rank in the army, or what kind of car I drove, or what kind of person you could change me into. You married me… for me.

Even though we’re 6,000 miles apart, you make me want to be a better man. Not because you’re nagging me to do it, or because you feel entitled to it. In all honesty, I know that you would love me no matter if I worked for Microsoft pulling $220,000 a year and we lived in a mansion, or if we lived in a hut in some jungle somewhere preaching the gospel. Actually, truth be told, you would probably rather do the latter over the former, but that's neither here nor there.

So thank you for encouraging me to get my degree. Thank you for standing next to me every time I hatch some kind of hair brained scheme. Thanks for not criticizing my stupid decisions, and not rubbing it in my face when you were right. Thanks for being there for me, now that I’m going through one of the hardest times in my life (the transition from military to civilian).

I know that things are rough right now, especially since we still have 5 months left, and there is no telling when we’ll see each other next thanks to more surgery, and a tight leave/training schedule, plus finances. Whether you admit it or not, you too, have a sacrificial spirit.
I love you, Lew. 

One year ago today...

One year ago today, God knocked my feet out from under me (literally) when I shattered my knee, completely tearing the PCL, dislocating the knee, and breaking the tibia. The injury left me and every doctor that I saw (and there were a lot of doctors) ask, "How in the world did this happen?" It was really an inexplicable freak injury.

And so began a year that included a total of about 8 weeks on crutches, 9 months of physical therapy, no running, rebuilding muscle, and regaining flexibility. I am by no means at 100% yet (and perhaps I never will be), but I am so thankful to be as far on the road of recovery as I am. And I commemorated the year anniversary of the injury by doing a hiking/backpacking trip (22 miles total) on the Pacific Crest Trail with the Squirrel.

As I reflect back on the past year, although I do not understand how or why the injury happened, I can definitely see some things that God has taught me through it.

First, He taught me HUMILITY. I have always been the person on a hike who has been out in front leading the group or who still has more energy left even at the end of a hike. But this year, I have had to learn to be okay with saying, "I can't go any farther." Or "I don't think I can do that." This has been a very hard lesson for me to learn, and I still don't think that I have completely learned it. But it has also taught me more about COMPASSION. I now know what it is like to be unable to do the things that I want to do or need to do. I know what it's like to have to rely on other people because I am not physically able to open the door for myself or carry my own food, which definitely helps me to empathize with others whom I see on crutches or who may have other physical ailments or may not be as strong as I am. And since I wasn't able to do so much for myself, I definitely learned more about SELFLESS LOVE in Liam's self-sacrificing spirit. He put my socks and shoes on for me when I couldn't bend my leg enough to reach my feet; he helped me into the shower when I couldn't do so myself; he did the grocery shopping; he drove me to and from work and doctor's appointments; he put off his own surgery and endured his own pain because he was taking care of me. And I could go on and on. Thank you to Liam for all that you did and do for me, and thank you to God for giving me such a great husband.

Finally, I have also grown in HEAVENLY MINDEDNESS this past year. Having a physical injury has made me think more about how temporary our physical bodies are, and knowing that I may never get back to 100% again makes me glad that I have a heavenly body to which I can look forward. I think that God sometimes removes the earthly things from us to help us to focus more on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. And that thought brings JOY.