4) It’s a Small World After All
The military community is small and pretty tight knit…and just like any family unit, we can have some disfunction. Many times, even within the larger community, some units or jobs may mean an even smaller sub-set.
This can have incredible benefits, but also can mean unique challenges. On any base, you will find a wide variety of folks from all over the country and the world. One of my favorite things about military life is getting to meet people with different view points, culture, education and life experience than I may have.
Sometimes those differences can cause us to clash with one another as we adapt. The clashing is what I believe, in part, causes some of the bickering among spouses in our community, and as a result negative observations about that bickering.
However, it is also what I believe to be one of the things that ends up making us stronger as well. It is also so much more interesting; a life filled with differences.
How boring would life be if we were all the same?
The Bad Apple theory, social media, our small world, and the possibility that we may be overly sensitive or protective of our community…are the reasons I believe military spouses sometimes get a bad rap.
At the end of the day though, I still believe in the kindness, perseverance and ingenuity of our family unit as a whole. I am proud to be a member of the military spouse community and wouldn’t trade the experiences we have had for anything in the world!
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