You Are Not Alone: A Field Guide for the Fight

Chapter 1: If You’re Reading This, Please Hold On

If you’re holding this book, chances are you're in a battle nobody else can see.

Maybe you haven’t slept in days.
Maybe you’re surrounded by people and still feel completely alone.
Maybe the thoughts in your head are louder than the world around you.
And maybe—just maybe—you’re wondering if it’s even worth it to keep going.

We get it.

Not in the shallow, “thoughts and prayers” kind of way. We get it because we’ve been there too—curled up in a bathroom, hiding in a truck cab, fists clenched, heart racing, trying to breathe through the weight of the world pressing down like a boot to your chest.

This book isn’t going to fix everything.
But it will sit with you in the wreckage.
It will remind you that even in your lowest moment, you are not broken beyond repair. You are not weak for needing help. You are not crazy.
And you are absolutely, without a doubt, not alone.

We built November Lima Bravo for you.
For the veteran who can’t shut off the war.
For the survivor who still hears the echoes of violence.
For the first responder who saves everyone except themselves.
For the civilian who’s silently drowning in trauma no one ever saw coming.

There’s no sugarcoating here.
But there is truth.
And the truth is this:

You’ve made it through 100% of your worst days. This is not where your story ends.

You don’t have to believe that yet.
We’ll believe it for you until you can.

So flip the page.
Take the next breath.
Hold on.

We’re not going anywhere.

Chapter 2: The Battle No One Sees

Most people don’t recognize a war unless they can hear the gunfire.

They don’t see the invisible wounds—the sleepless nights, the hypervigilance, the guilt, the shame, the flashbacks, the way your body still reacts even when your mind says you’re safe.

You walk into a room and scan for exits.
You sit with your back to the wall.
You don’t trust silence because that’s when the noise gets louder.

This is the unseen battlefield—and it’s one of the most dangerous places a human being can exist.
Because in this fight, there are no medals. No parades. No uniforms.
Only scars, silence, and survival.

And you’re surviving it.

Every day that you show up—however messy, tired, or triggered—is a win.
You may not feel strong, but strength isn’t measured in how loud you are. It’s measured in how many times you keep standing back up.

So if your hands shake when you hold the coffee…
If you cry in the shower because it’s the only time no one will hear…
If you haven’t told a soul what really happened because you don’t have the words…

You are still a warrior.

This isn’t about who can “tough it out.”
This is about learning to fight in a new way: with therapy, with support, with boundaries, with breath, with faith, with the decision to stay.

Nobody tells you how hard healing can be.
Nobody tells you how lonely recovery feels.
Nobody tells you that sometimes, just existing is an act of resistance.

But we will.

At NLB, we honor that fight.
We don’t care how long it’s been or how far you’ve fallen.
We care that you’re still breathing. Still trying. Still here.

You’ve got people in your corner now.
You’ve got a mission bigger than pain.
You’ve got a field guide in your hands—and we wrote it for you.

You are not weak. You’re wounded—and wounds heal.

Let’s keep walking.