3. We need to embrace ALL the suck.
I don’t need to go into the hardships associated with our lifestyle; you know them like an overplayed song on the radio. We are resilient, we do hard things, we juggle a myriad of hats and where them all simultaneously. Sometimes, military life just hurts. When things are modified, we adapt but that doesn’t mean we can’t fight back against certain changes that threaten our families’ well being. Our spouses, for the most part, are balked in the battle of fighting for what our families need in regards to policy changes, the abolishment of family support programs, the forfeitures of benefits, and a million other issues that wreak of controversy hinder our abilities to thrive. Being resilient and playing on a team doesn’t mean we have to agree to play only defense in military life.
Our ability to have hard conversations and to openly communicate how we feel will ultimately strengthen our community as a whole. Too often, because we are spouses, we assume that our roles are unimportant and unworthy of extra thought and help. These things are lies, lies that we’ve accepted as truths. Let us be humble enough to ask for help, resilient enough to not be offended, and brave enough to stand up for our families.
