Find Your Happy Place

Moving season is in full swing for military families and I've seen so many of my friends pack up with orders to Fort East
only to find out they are actually going to Fort West. Hurry up and wait! Everyone in the military is familiar with that adage. It happens, occasionally, that you head off to a new adventure and end up with some unexpected free time.  Yep, it's all written in jello.... Aren't you supposed to turn jello into jello shots?? Or is that something about lemons? I forget....

Along with moving, we are also in that 3-6 month precarious re-deployment stage where emotions can go from good to bad quickly. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we have been here enough times to know how to navigate those waters and maybe the free time is a blessing...that's how I am going to look at it anyway. 

I love this neighborhood where our Quarters One currently exists!

We are blessed to have a home of our own. It's our happy place and it has been a wonderful refuge to run to when we just need to get away or when our family has been spread out across the world and we need to come together to reconnect.
In my younger days, sometimes my happy place was a room in our quarters, if we were lucky enough to have the space. Once, at Fort Bragg in Biazza Ridge, it was a screened in back porch...the screen came from a pcs'ing neighbor and we schlepped it to our house and cautiously nailed it around the back patio. Another time it was a small closet under the stairs we made into a tiny office space. It's even been my car where I could take a few minutes to listen to a song or read a magazine.  It's also been the gym and running or walking outdoors.
Where ever you can make it, though, find a happy place of your own where you can take a few minutes, a few hours, a few days to breathe and re-group. It's important, not selfish, to take time for yourself. You can't be good to others if you aren't good to yourself.
Safe travels if you're PCSing this summer...

Good advice...moving or not...take time to watch the sunrise, the sunset, smell the roses...enjoy the journey!

June is PTSD awareness month. If you or your Soldier need any assistance please don't hesitate to get help. Click here or the link above to reach the VA's National Center for PTSD.