Lessons Learned from a Life-Changing Decision

I was 29 years old.

I was unemployed.

And I’m walking down the street in Alamosa, Colorado dropping off resumes. and you know you’ve hit rock bottom when you put in a resume at McDonalds.

I walk past the Army Recruiters office and there’s a big sign in the window that says, “Check out our Army Opportunities!”

“What the hell,” I thought. I I haven’t done anything stupid today!”

I walked in.

There was a Staff Sgt sitting behind the desk. He looks up and smiles and says, “Can I help you?”

“You’ll probably throw me out when you find out how old I am.”

“How old are you.”

I told him.

“Well, what do you bring to the party?”

“How about four years of college and almost ten years in law enforcement.”

“Have a seat,” he said.

A month later, I was the oldest male PFC in the US Army that had never been busted. I had to go in on a wavier because of my age (at the time, 28 was the cutoff), but that actually worked to my advantage.

I discovered I really enjoyed the military.

It taught me self-reliance.

It taught me discipline (which I sorely lacked).

It taught me to overcome, improvise, and adapt.

It taught me to push as hard as I could and never settle for second money.

It allowed me to live up to the standard I’d set to myself. That standard had been set by the men around me who had been part of the military. I could actually say I was a man now.

I never once regretted that day.

Moral of the story. Sometimes stepping off the beaten path is what you need to do.