As I meet people here, many have asked me what have I learned by being here.

It's a simple question but the answers are huge and it makes me pause just to think about how this experience has changed me.To say this is such a different world than the one back in the United States is accurate but underrated.

Imagine living life with a direct threat to your life hanging over head every second of every day.You learn to appreciate the small stuff. A person's smile. A simple hello. An e-mail from a friend, the opportunity to talk to your spouse. And, yes, even a bootstrap-turned-into-belt.

You realize just how much we have at home. Running water, a warm, comfy bed, green trees (or maybe not so green now), trash disposal (the Iraqis burn their trash because they don't have landfills), food and wonderful family members who return our hugs and kisses.I have learned to be much more grateful for these and for how special life really is.

But, it's also been a wakeup call for me, too.These troops put their lives on the line every day to support their own personal principles. How many of us can say we are willing to risk everything we know for something we believe? How many of us are willing to push past our own comfort to force ourselves to grow so that we can help other people?

It's something I will never forget and I will embrace as a life lesson. I will continue to find ways to push myself so that I can reach my fullest potential while trying to make this world a little better at the same time.