The Push to Greatness

We often hear the phrase "Push yourself". Growing up, I was told that to be successful you had to put yourself out there and try it. I remember growing up and going to the swimming pool. At this pool they had several diving boards, all at different levels. I have a memory of one summer going to this pool and making the decision that I was going take on the challenge and climb the highest diving board and take the jump. And as I stood on the edge looking down on the blue water below, I thought to myself that I should just turn around and walk back down the ladder but if I did that others might see me as weak. So, on that day, I walked to the edge and jumped. After I surfaced on the water I realized that I enjoyed it. I achieved what I set out to do. While it was not a world changing accomplishment, it was something that I felt proud of. On that day, I pushed myself to a new limit.

Years later, I would find myself ready to jump again, this time from civilian life to military life. And instead of looking down into crystal clear blue water I saw nothing but a grey mass of uncertainty. Yet, much like that day on the diving board, I knew that turning back would result in feeling like a failure so I jumped. I accomplished a lot in my eight and half years in the military. I got to go to some great places and do some great things. I had the chance to work along side some amazing people and everyday I had to push myself further than I had to the day before.

Than I jumped again. This time from military life back into civilian life. Yet again, instead of clear blue water, that grey mess of uncertainty was there but I jumped. While the landing wasn't always as soft or as pleasant as finding yourself in some nice cool water on a hot summer day, I knew that no matter what I had to push myself towards greatness. That was until a few years ago. A few years ago, a decision was made to take an idea I had and make it into something; something that could be bigger than just myself. Something that if done right could leave a lasting impact on the community. That is when I stopped looking to push myself to greatness and started to focus on pushing the collective group of Veterans in the community towards greatness. I learned that through their success, the collective group was pushed towards greatness. I learned that my own "greatness" was multiplied by the greatness of the collective group. I was no longer standing on the edge of the highest diving board alone. I was standing shoulder to shoulder again with some great people people working to change the conversation and view of Veterans. Together, we push each other to show others that might doubt us that Veterans are a valuable assets with some amazing skills beyond our technical knowledge. We are passionate, driven, caring, and understanding people that are able to see beyond the short range goal. We understand team work and the importance it plays in not only our own personal success but the success of those around us.

So now that term of "push yourself" or "find your greatness" has taken on new meaning. It no longer causes me to just look inward but more importantly it causes me to include looking outward. It does not mean that someone should stop looking to improve him or herself. By all means, continue to push yourself because by achieving your goals you bring the collective group with you. And when you struggle, the group will be there to push you up.