After serving almost 24 years, I chose to retire early from the military in August of 2013. That decision was the culmination of my journey recovering from the decompression following my tour of duty in Afghanistan. During this one particular bout of internal combat when I questioned my own mortality again (some call these episodes, the “Survivor’s Guilt”), the dots just connected. In that defining moment, I learned two things about myself. First, things always happen for a