Today's Thought - January

[bluidkiti]

January 9

My Takeaway and Excuse

Even before my first duty station, I showed up with a buddy, and we both must have smelled just like a brewery still. I think the drill sergeant made us do some push-ups and kind of laughed his head off and then, you know, told us to disappear.

I remember my takeaway from that was, Okay, so that means we can get away with it. I can get away with this. Even though the drinking age was twenty-one and I was still about eighteen, my alcohol use was laughed off instead of addressed head-on. I used that fact as an excuse to convince myself that it was all right to prioritize getting drunk over almost anything else.

On this day, I will stay accountable for my behavior and will not make excuses.

~Dennis D., U.S. Army, 1997–2003

Today's reading is from the book Leave No One Behind: Daily meditations for Military Service Members and Veterans in Recovery*