Thursday, March 1, 2012

Love Where You Live

As MilSpouses, we've gotten used to settling down and at the drop of a hat, picking our lives up and moving it somewhere else. I'll be the first to admit that the transition can be a rough process, even if you're headed somewhere less than desirable.

But I'll tell you something, Milspouses ... standing on your soapbox venting about how much you hate a particular location as often as you can?? You're not doing yourself any services. Venting as often as possible about how terrible your current location is? You're shutting yourself off from a lot of potential! Seeing as you're going to be where you are for awhile, try finding something about the location that you do like. Is it the coffee store on the corner? A quiet pond down the road? If you can't find anything about where you're living that you can enjoy ... that's a helluva long road to walk. I asked my husband to stop feeling so damn sorry for me when I was in a "mood". It's not his fault that the Marine Corps stationed us in Maine. It's not his fault that I was struggling to adjust. It's not his fault that I felt frustrated and a little "lost" more often than not.

So I started small. What did I like?
I liked summertime.
I liked that the sandbar is all but deserted in the summertime. It's like having my own private beach!
I liked going for a drive on the winding, country roads.
I liked that I knew where to find the best Lobster Roll in town.
I liked that LL Bean had plenty of things going on in the summertime.
I liked that my neighbors down the street had miniature horses; I hope they don't mind -- I may have come armed with sugar cubes, peppermints, apples and carrots to feed the ponies on my walk.
I climbed Mt. Katahdin.
I went to Bar Harbor. Climbed Cadillac Mountain.
I drove my Corolla to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
I went snowboarding. I went skiing.
I tried snow-shoeing.

People ask me all the time how I like Maine, since I spent more than half my life growing up in the eternal sunshine of SoCal. And my honest answer?

"It's different. I have my preferences, but I don't hate it."

But that's the truth. I don't hate Maine. I wouldn't choose to live here long term, but I found something I enjoyed. The truth is that I'm not going to find anything remotely close to the hustle-and-bustle of Orange County. Every state is going to be different. I have things that I don't care for in Maine, just like I had a handful of things I didn't care for in SoCal. In hindsight? I don't think I want any other state to be like SoCal.

Point is: if you fail to make lemonade from the lemons you've been handed, it's your own fault. You have the power over your own happiness -- don't scapegoat and blame it on someone (or something!) else.

3 comments:

  1. Love this post, especially last paragraph.

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  2. Great post, totally agree. Although I still wouldn't want to be stationed at Ft Drum :-)

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  3. I definitely agree.... although I don't plan on going back to Maryland if I don't have too, haha.

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