Putting One Foot In Front Of The Other W/ David Miller
Living Life On The Move is very important to our team here at Nomatic. We strive to live that everyday. We also love to hear from our friends on how they are doing so as well.
Meet David Miller. We asked David how he lives life on the move. He has a great story on his path to living life on the move.
David is a Special Agent with the United States Secret Service where he has spent his 16+ year career assigned to the Miami and West Palm Beach Field Offices, as well as various Washington, D.C. based assignments to include the Protective Intelligence Division, Vice Presidential Protective Division, and Special Services Division.
“Life on the move.” To me, that’s putting one foot in front of the other and doing so equipped with the right tools for mental clarity and anticipation for where each step is going to take me. The antagonist of this would be life anchored down. Anchored down by pain, strife, addiction. Living in the absence of excitement for moving forward. Finding comfort in uneasiness and setting-up shop in the shadows of everything grim.
This is how I used to live. I was the first guest to show up at my pity party and the one guest that overstayed his welcome there. See, I couldn’t live a life on the move because I wore shoes made of cement, mafia style, which kept me at the bottom of the lake – the lake of my own tears. I wanted to live a life on the move but my alcoholism, depression, and anxiety kept me anchored. But then it happened. I took one step forward – I asked for help. Then I took another step forward and stopped drinking. Then another step, and another, and another, creating distance between who I am in this moment and who I was then. I was moving forward. I became excited for the future but found the importance of living in the right now. I finally started living a life on the move.
But I found this was not enough. I decided that I could flip the script on all things negative in my life and extract the positives for the greater good of others. I realized that individuals suffering from mental illnesses as well as addictions are not broken, but the systems in place for these people are what is broken.
Today, because of where I have been, I want to be sure that others who are anchored down by their own struggles don’t have to also take on the weight of the broken systems. I have become an advocate for change within the federal government, working with the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to develop a safe haven program for government employees to seek help without the fear of career ramifications and stigma. Additionally, I am aiding the ONDCP in authoring a new government-wide policy for employees to bring help for those who suffer from alcoholism. And this is just the beginning for me. The momentum I have gained from taking that first step forward and asking for help is now bringing help to others. I am putting one foot in front of the other and doing so equipped with the tools of mental clarity and anticipation for where each step is going to take me.
This is me living a life on the move. - David Miller.
For media, speaking, and podcast inquiries, please email David at davidb.miller@yahoo.com.
