Today I honor my husband on his birthday, a Navy retiree with 26 years of service including 3 years in the Vietnam War. Without him, I wouldn’t be who I am today. But there’s something in our experience that I hope you can learn from…

He enlisted at 17 & did 13 years enlisted, 13 commissioned. When he retired, the military was basically all he’d ever known and the loss of mission and purpose was very hard for him. He’s one of the reasons I’m so committed to our crowdfunded NASCAR team that’s racing to prevent Veteran suicide. No, he didn’t attempt suicide but there were times I was afraid he would.

Years ago when he retired I bought him the book “What Color is Your Rainbow?” because I wanted him to follow his dreams after all the years of duty and sacrifice. Worrying about having a young wife and two toddlers, he has a very strong work ethic and looked at that as being selfish.

He got a well-paying job with great benefits, but I know if he’d had access to orgs like those we work with (Racing For Heroes and The Rosie Network) the transition would have been so much easier for him and for us.

I share this personal story in hopes it may help someone else realize it’s not selfish to take the time to understand yourself and what fulfills you in work. It’s a gift to your family because the satisfaction it brings is one of the foundations of happiness for all.

It’s not enough to know what you’re good at. To truly know yourself and find the most satisfying work, you also need to understand what you’re not good at, what you enjoy, what you don’t enjoy, and – probably most importantly – the why behind those answers.

I wish you fair winds and following seas ❤️