Probably one of my most vulnerable stories is the one that I tell about my first mid-life crisis.   It was when I turned thirty years old.  I was married, had a daughter, had a great job, and a house, I had what most would describe as the American Dream. 

But what no one really talks about is that the stuff on the outside doesn’t really matter.  Its the stuff on the inside that you can’t touch, but you definitely feel on a daily basis that changes how you feel about your life. 

At this turning point, my greatest fear was reaching the end of my life and not having anyone say that I mattered in there life, other than immediate family I would leave this earth just as quickly as I came and that what I did was insignificant. 

It was in the months that followed that a friend came into my life and told me some advice that changed everything.  If you want a result in your life you have never had, then you need to start doing things you have never done.  

With this advice in hand, I really looked inward and at what results in my life I have yet to see or feel.   It was an easy answer for me, friends.  I had no quality relationships with other people that I could lean on, count on, or enjoy moments with.  

Next question was, what is something I have never done that is holding back that result from coming into my life and equivalently it was talking to people. Every person I would talk to would be that high school girl that would say no and I would avoid talking to them for reliving the feeling of being rejected.  

With the solution and problem in hand, I decided to move through this and create a result in the life I have never really had, friends.   I went to the safest place I could to make new friends, the park. 

There were always dads at the park that were their kids and instead of just going about my business, I decided to say hello and wow it felt so good to do that step.  I instantly validated something at that moment. 

On the other side of hello can be the life you have been waiting for, it turns out the other dads wanted to say hello and talk just as much as I did.  They were just waiting for someone to go first. 

I can say that on the other side of hello has been everything that I have in my life today, my podcast, my network, my friends, and new opportunities every day. 

This is why my first course to Military Dads is on friends because without them we feel empty, we loved having a tribe while we served, but we do little to rebuilt this tribe on the other side of our service.  

Friend-ships are ships on your ocean of life and the more ships you have on the ocean, the more opportunity you will find floats ashore.   The course is five short ten-minute audio lessons you can listen to on walk or drive to work on how to create more friends, build upon them, and grow them.  

Oh, I forgot to mention the most important part, it is FREE! If you are ready to have more friends in your life and see what is on the other side of hello for you, your ships are waiting to set sail.