There’s something about military life that is a little bit off putting. Isn’t there? At first glance you may see all the moving, deployments, crappy pay, and trashy people and think, “Yeah, not for me.”
Hey, I understand that perspective more than you probably think. It wasn’t but a handful of years ago that I was thinking those exact same thoughts. That was a few years ago though. And today I have something that I like to call perspective. Of course, I don’t know everything just because I’ve spent a few years as a military life. Heck, I don’t even know much at all.
BUT, I do know just a few reasons why you are probably more capable of handling military life than you realize.
You get used to the trashy people.
Ok. That was a joke. Trashy people suck, but you’ll encounter trashy people in all walks of life. So whether you choose military life or not, you can count on meeting some trashy people. Don’t let a few trashy people dictate your life choices. Simply seek out awesome people, who are smart and funny and super cool like yourself, and you will be just fine. They are out there I promise. I’ve met A LOT of awesome people in military life. A LOT.
By the time you move a few times, you start jonesing for another.
You move a lot in military life, and it is a serious pain in the butt. After a while though, you get used to moving all the time. You get so used to it, in fact, that you will start jonesing to move after you’ve been at a duty station for a year or two.
It’s weird, but true! We’ve been overseas for about a year, loving literally every minute, having the time of our lives, and my husband and I still talk about where we will get to move next.
You’ll become a deployment survivor.
Deployments are lame, so I’m not going to try and sugar coat it. I like my husband A LOT. Of course I love him, but I REALLY like him too! I like hanging out with him. When he’s gone, I miss him immensely. I miss our Saturday morning coffee chats. I miss having him lay next to me in bed at night. I miss living as a family in the same home. I miss all of it.
But once you’ve been through a deployment or two, you will become what I like to call a survivor. You develop this thing called deployment survival mode. The deployment will start and you will clean your house like possessed crazy woman on speed, ridding your home of every speck of deployment dust you can find. You are starting this deployment right, and no one is going to stop you.
You’ll feel so much better at that giant cleaning session that you’ll brainstorm some amazing ways keep yourself and your kids busy. You’ll learn to work on fun projects you’ve put off for months. You’ll discover adventures that are rewarding and fulfilling. You’ll push through and survive the deployment so you can get back to both liking and loving your husband again once he’s home.
You’ll get over the fact that you’ll never be rich.
OK, maybe you’ll get rich if you bring home the mucho bacon, but let’s be real—you don’t get rich off military pay. Comfortable? Yes. Pay the bills and save some too? Yes.
But c’mon, I always laugh hysterically every time someone says a military spouse married a service member for the money. Um…if I were going to marry someone for money, I’d marry a broker on Wall Street.
More than likely, becoming rich will become an afterthought. Military life will bless your life with richness through experiences, adventures, and really cool people. I feel like the richest girl in the world most days.
Before you know it, military life will seem alluring.
You’ll start to see all the amazing opportunities military life affords you and your family. Life experiences that most people spend their whole lives wishing will happen. Right now I live on a tropical island in the Pacific and I get to see and experience a new culture every day. We get to see sights I know we would never make the trip to actually see if it weren’t for military life.
You will become independent, strong, resilient, and savvy. You will become a woman you never even dreamed you could be. You will impress yourself with all the ways you handle the curve balls of military life. You’ll get so good at it, it will make you wonder why you ever hesitated in the first place.
Being a modern military spouse.
Today modern military spouses face countless challenges in military life. It’s easy to feel lost in the shuffle of it all. That’s why my friends JD, Jo and I wrote a simplified step-by-step guide for military spouses. It’s time to take the guesswork out of military life and start making things easier on ourselves.
Take the leap with us and grab your copy of Modern Military Spouse: The Ultimate Military Life Guide for Military Spouses and Significant Others.
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After 23 years of military life I couldn’t agree more with this blog! And all those obstacles that most of us overcome… Those are the same obstacles that weed out the spouses who were in it for the wrong reasons anyway (like getting rich, for example). Thanks for this blog, it helps an old timer like me regain my perspective on how rewarding military life can still be. And yes, we STILL look forward to our PCS moves ?
Thank you so much. I’m so glad you liked it. I’m already looking forward to our next PCS and it’s still a few years away.