It took me over a year to rehab my pinched C6/C7, and I spent all of 2022 clawing my way back to normal. That is when a friend discovered The Process—an eight-day simulation of Canadian Special Forces selection. Out of five close friends, only three of us survived the interviews, exams, and psychological tests.

Weeks later, an unmarked black box arrived, my name misspelled. Inside: rope, lock picks, and burn-after-reading instructions. I spent nights mastering knots blindfolded and picking locks by feel alone. The final letter gave nothing but coordinates. When I arrived, a bus with blacked-out windows rolled in, cadre in fatigues barking orders. Within four hours, thirty people quit. By day two, I had reinjured my neck. They pulled me for medical reasons.  Two years later I am still in constant pain and not finishing still haunts me to this day.  However, sometimes you have to be willing to step into the arena.