When you just can't keep living life the way you've been living, you have two choices...

Our friend Phil Myers is a former Navy EOD Technician and is dedicated to being a voice that serves to bring awareness to ongoing and relevant issues within the military relating to mental health.

You see, Phil came face to face with his own choice a few months back and he made the choice to fight for change. At what only could be described at a life changing intersection, standing there with nothing but the clothes on his back and the thoughts in his head, he chose to take a step. And he has been stepping ever since. How? You might ask. By the fact that his first step was on that landed him on the Appalachian Trail, and every single step after has led him on the hike of his life. Currently, he is just over halfway through his roughly four month journey.

Why the journey? Because, after everything depression, alcoholism, bi-polar, hospital stays, etc. he decided it was time to truly find himself, to fight for his own healing, to fight for the healing of those around him with similar experiences. His public journey is one that is inspiring not just us, but others who may be silently watching every step he takes. Phils honesty, integrity, and vulnerability are a foundational example of what we mean when we say "Influence your world" and his willingness to put his experiences out there for all to see, risking everything for his own good and the good of other Warriors who are struggling.

Phil came to us as a member of our current Warrior Advisory Team, and little did we know how much more he would bring to the table. With all of his experiences, all of the pain, all of the heartache he has faced, even WANTING to give up...he has not. He keeps fighting. He keeps moving. And we are stoked to see what happens in and through him as he comes out on the other side of this season.

This is a post from his FB Page:

What if I told you I gave up? But you wouldn’t know because I hid all of this behind my larger than life smile that so many know me for.

I tried. I was ready to end my life, and have wanted to several times over these past three years. I didn't want to, but I couldn’t see any other way through the pain, or see that things would ever get better.

Almost overdosed in 2019 and I still don't know how I woke up, diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety, Bipolar Depression II, on top of drinking so much it lead to a ruptured stomach ulcer that I also hid, and even showed up to work while going through withdrawals, again hiding it to not draw attention or appear weak.

For some reason I’m still here, and I’m hoping to find the answers to why and how I fit into the world on this 2,200 mile walk in the woods.

I'm out here hiking to hopefully find the combination that’ll help me keep a promise that was made to change and not become a number (even though the odds with PTSD & Bipolar are stacked against me). With every step I’m not only finding what happens when you keep going, but hope to give others hope that things can get better if they keep going too.

Check out Phil on FB and IG:
https://www.facebook.com/phil.myers.334
https://www.instagram.com/amanicadventure/