How our story began...

It all started as I was growing up as a kid with a burning anxiety developing inside me that I just didn’t quite understand. This made me extremely closed, as I felt as if I had to evaluate my emotions just that little bit more. However I was lucky enough to have a best friend whom I could share everything with.

As I grew older, and at the age of 18 with a passion for the sea, I joined the Royal Navy as a Mine Clearance Diver. And on the 13th March 2007, during my initial naval training, I received a phone call from my mum to tell me that my best friend had passed away in a car crash. I was later given the opportunity to call his parents, although was advised that it was strongly recommended I remained on course and didn’t return home for the funeral. So there I was back to being that anxious kid, at the other end of the country, without my best friend or my family to talk to and I was totally lost in this new world of emotions that I didn’t know how to express.

I carried a lot of these emotions into my adult life through relationships and a new career, until I heard too many times that I was far too closed and needed to open up more. So with that in mind and a fresh drive to grow as a person, I decided to pick up a pen and write a journal; and I could tangibly notice the changes that began to develop.

 The exercises I put together, along with expressive writing, have allowed me to unlock the ability to express myself more clearly and continue to grow each and every day. 

 I hope Combat Journal can do for you what it has done for me. 

 Sincerely Yours,

Gary