Turning The Bad Days Around
I have much more to share in the saga of getting our cars registered in Georgia. The process has been incredibly frustrating and has taught us a lot about our rights as military members and spouses. We spent five hours at the tag agency on Friday and another two today. The process is only half done (and some stuff needs to be undone as a result). Ultimately it was a pain in the butt, and there's more to be done, but this will be less of a pain than it would have been.
The whole situation left me really heated and emotionally charged. It was a rough couple of days. I was planning to share the entire story today, but I think I am going to hold off until the situation is entirely resolved, which will hopefully be next week. We also had a great night, which turned the day around, so I really don't want to revisit the emotions from before when I'm in such a good headspace.
Yes, this is another post about the importance of military friendships. There's something about doing life with people who understand what you're going through. People find this kind of communion everywhere, and military families find it a bit quicker.
So, picture this: my husband and I are leaving the tag agency with a mixed sense of accomplishment and frustration. In the process of resolving this matter, we had to do some things that now have to be undone, and the verdict is still out on how complicated or possible that will be. We are slightly relieved and mostly drained. Our friends texted us that they would be going rock climbing for today's PT and asked if we wanted to join.
Despite the fact that I've never been rock climbing, we decided it would be a good experience. We would get to see friends, work off some nervous and stressful energy, and do something positive for our bodies. And it was. We ended up spending all night with these friends. A few hours of rock climbing turned into dinner out, getting us home past our baby's bedtime. It turned into a really great day and filled all of our cups.
My husband and I are perfectly capable of cheering ourselves up. We could have resolved to make today better and figured out some way to get there. But I also know we would have come home and settled into the routine of accomplishing tasks around the house. We would have made dinner, done bedtime with our son, and probably settled into bed for an early night. It's easy to fall into a routine, and often, we don't deal with our stressful energy until it has built up into a massive beast.
So when friends ask, we make every effort to say "yes" and show up. It doesn't necessarily mean it is an activity that we are totally into. But we are into anything that builds us a stronger community out here. If we show up for people doing the things they love, they will return the favor. When the invitation comes, I encourage you to say "yes" and show up. You never have to go again if you really dislike something, but usually, something good comes out of it.
I'm going to keep today's post really short because my wrists are killing me from the climbing. I am definitely going to be sore tomorrow. But it was well worth it, and we'll be back again. I so appreciate these friends. Every hard thing that this PCS throws at us feels worth it when we consider the new family members that we've added since we got here. I hope you've found the community that makes the bad days feel worth it in the long run.