Honour service

It can be helpful to remember how you’ve grown as a person and how you have made a difference in people’s lives, by doing your duty and serving your country, your community and beyond.

Think about the people and places where you have had a positive effect and where that has left a positive mark on you. Consider finding ways to honour your contribution. You might write something or build or create something that represents or reminds you of this.

I was just focused on getting back to being the "old me," and I had to let that go. To learn how to accept who I now was, I had to say, "I was great at my job in the military," and then mourn the loss of that. I’m happy now, but in a different role than I used to be in. I am doing something else. It’s not the path I saw for myself, and I had to grieve that loss before I could walk this new path that I love. - Military Veteran

He was our first medic killed in the war in Afghanistan. And his mother organized a charity bike ride the length of Vancouver Island, every year raising money for Wounded Warriors. So a lot of the people that knew Andrew go on this bike ride every year, as a way of remembering him. - Military Veteran

Many find it helpful to honour those who have died. This can be participating in a formal event like a ramp ceremony or a funeral; informal get-togethers either in person or online where you can tell stories and remember with others; or it can be a private ritual like doing something you both enjoyed, lighting a candle or spending time thinking about them is important.

You might consider how you can honour a colleague who died.

Mark was there for me, for everyone he served with; he saved our lives. Then it occurred to me that I could be there for those I served with by sharing my story and making time for those who are struggling. That’s what I want to do with the life I have, because that way I can carry on Mark’s legacy. I know he would have been proud of me. - Military Veteran

For more information, see Death of a colleague.