Opportunity Cost & Risks
I must admit that when my contract with the Air Force expired, there were many unknowns. There are many stories of veterans whose lives deteriorated after their time in service. Some end up on the streets, homeless; others deal with severe mental health issues that affect how they interact with the world around them. God knew I didn’t want to be another statistic, but I also understood that if I had stayed in, there’d be another statistic that would’ve been an uphill battle. Thus, ultimately, I followed through.
For two months, as I was looking for a home, I stayed at the house I had called home for my last year and a half of high school. My mind during those two months was filled with concerns of whether a home was available in the Florida market, as I highly underestimated the demand when returning after a six-year hiatus. Fears of how bills would be paid, especially a mortgage. Ultimately, both were resolved despite those hurdles. How many times have people fearmongered you when you decided to make a life-altering decision?
The reality is, every decision in life has an opportunity cost. There is the risk that you may fail making this decision, but there’s also the chance that you may succeed. Imagine if you never tried, though. The old expression, "You miss all the shots you don’t take,” stems from this thought. There are times when God is calling for a change in your life, leaving the door open for a better life, more growth, and new opportunities you never thought possible in the old life. That doesn’t mean there won’t be growing pains, considering that suffering is a part of life; however, when you come out on the other side, you can look back and reflect on how much growth was achieved. The new people you encountered in the process gave you new challenges to overcome in yourself that weren’t known before. The potential that was always within you from God—it was just a matter of answering His call, walking through that door.
I cannot state the number of new doors that have been opened to me since returning to civilian life. This is not to say my life is perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. I have days where loneliness creeps in and I question whether I made the right decision to move back to the place I once called home. It’s not easy, but the flip side to that is being closer to family. There are events I have participated in because of the shorter distance from them, whether it is going to professional sports games, or just hanging out at a house with people who mutually care about one another. Those two things combined have resulted in a better state of mind than at any point in service. This newsletter and podcast have also paved the way to new doors, meeting people from all walks of life—contributing to beating the statistics in the veteran community. It is good to challenge the status quo in your life. Never be content with having your head just above water. Always strive to be proactive in challenging yourself; otherwise, life will do it for you in unpleasant ways. And once you do, there will be days where doubt creeps in, but it is part of the journey. It’s normal, I promise. If you fail, that is part of the process. I have had failures during this season of change, too, but that’s a good thing! Failure means there was an attempt to achieve success. Greatness in oneself. Demand nothing less, take one step at a time—sometimes a step forward, other times a step backward, but then take two steps forward. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. And fear leads to stagnation, humanity’s greatest threat.
Inspiration: “Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” John 13:7
Author’s Note: Taboo Topic is approaching the 18-month anniversary of its newsletter (since its launch in January of 2021) and the 1-year anniversary of its podcast in June. It is an honor to have people take time out of their day to invest in Taboo Topic, whether it’s through the newsletter or podcast. This is a special thank you, as this post is dedicated to those who have encouraged this process since the beginning.