SHARE - an epic voyage in self-discovery

Nine days after 9/11, I enlisted in the California Army National Guard. That’s when my own battle started.

When I saw the planes hit the towers on TV, my priorities just changed. At the time, I was 32 years old, living in Nipoma, California, and working as a landscape contractor. As I mowed lawns during the next couple of days, those planes stayed in the back of my mind. I knew there was a bigger purpose for me.

In 2009, I voluntarily deployed to Afghanistan with the 2nd Battalion of the 121st Infantry Regiment of the Georgia Army National Guard. Two weeks into the 13-month deployment, eight soldiers from my unit were killed. We felt like sitting ducks.

By the time I left the Army in 2011, I was drinking heavily and addicted to pills.
I have heard others say that the hardest part of being in the military is leaving. That was definitely true for me. It was a such a fast-paced tempo, it was hard to slow down once I got off deployment.

I got sober after an arrest led to a stint in a post-traumatic stress (PTS) facility. I focused on my health and entered endurance competitions, such as day-long obstacle course races. I thought I was fine. But, in a motorcycle accident in 2017, I broke multiple bones and a sustained a traumatic brain injury. Issues related to PTS – panic attacks, severe depression – returned.

I remembered a fellow veteran who’d talked glowingly about the SHARE Military Initiative at Shepherd Center in Atlanta, and I knew it was finally time for me to reach out.

I joined the program in the summer of 2018 and was instantly struck by its support and structure. While at SHARE, I focused on changing my habits of over-generalizing and thinking about everything in black and white. SHARE presented me with strategies to improve my vision and memory skills. As the weeks went by, I could see improvements in my memory, pain level, mobility and thinking skills. The dynamic approach of the program kept me moving purposefully and quickly boosted my self-worth. My goals of going back to college and being more helpful at home finally seemed within reach.

Once I got out of my comfort zone, I found hidden talents, new passions and made lifelong friends. I tried things I never would have tried on my own, such as indoor rock climbing, drumming in an all-vet band and swimming with sharks at the Georgia Aquarium. Having other veterans by my side as I confronted my fears provided comfort, while also building my confidence. I enjoyed the opportunity to learn yoga, improve my cooking skills, work on scheduling and time management, play drums and improve my communication skills.

My time at SHARE was truly an epic voyage in self-discovery.

Since I graduated from SHARE in December 2018, I have enrolled in college with plans to get a psychology degree and help veterans as a peer counselor or therapist. My PTS symptoms have lessened, and I feel so much better than I did. I still keep in touch the other vets I met at SHARE and follow up with SHARE staff. I can’t imagine that ever changing. They saw me through all the way, and for that, I will be forever grateful.

To learn more about the SHARE program, visit here: https://rly.pt/SHARE