My excitement was palpable as I hobbled from my car to the 1st Special Forces Group Rehabilitation Center. My clunky full leg brace squeaked with each awkward step. After spending the last two months on crutches to allow my fractured hip to heal, I was finally cleared to put pressure on my left leg. Nothing could dampen my spirits on this day, not even the gloomy November overcast that is endemic to the Pacific Northwest.

I quickly downloaded my gear, took off my leg brace, popped in my headphones and mentally prepared myself to have the most intense workout of my life. When I took the first step without my leg brace, my body crumpled to the floor. The nerve damage I had sustained from the gunshot wound to my abdomen two months prior caused my quadriceps muscles to wither away, leaving my leg just barely bigger than my arm. Sprawled out on the floor, I took a few deep breaths and asked myself “how badly do you want this…how badly do you want to walk again?”

Over the course of the following two years, it was not uncommon for me to fall while working out or simply walking down the aisle at the grocery store. Every time I fell, I was embarrassed and had to ask myself, “how bad do you want this?” This process occurred a thousand times. However, each time that I picked myself up, my resolve to heal was greater. The process of literally having to pick myself up off the ground served as great practice for my transition from the military to the civilian world.