by Lindsay Swoboda, Uplifting Anchor “Mommy, I don’t WANT to move. I will miss our house. What about my music class? What about my friends? What about…” The number of items my daughter is worried about for this PCS astounds me. At only 3 years old, I thought we could blaze through our upcoming move […]
Permission to Feel When Starting Over
Do you try and stop yourself from feeling the hurt that comes when starting over? As a military wife, “starting over” and “loneliness” are a few of my close friends. They aren’t exactly the company I like to keep, and it might sound crazy, but some of the very best relationships in my life have […]
Are you Inspiring the World Around You?
Do you know that people are watching what you are doing right now? Are you inspiring the world around you? A few months ago, a friend that I admire told me how much my story inspires her. My immediate thought pattern was, but you are so inspirational, how can my story inspire you? And then […]
Changing the Conversation about Mental Health
When people think of mental health linked to deployment their minds often jump to combat situations, being injured or dealing with dramatic situations. While these situations do happen overseas and can cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), there are other issues with being in a combat zone that can easily be overlooked. I deployed to […]
Hard Parts of Saying Goodbye to Military Life
Leaving the military was the easy choice on paper. My husband’s and my career fields made it hard to be stationed together. I would likely have to deploy soon after my son was born. Other miscellaneous travel was to be expected. Just to name a few of the reasons. The list continued on… It was […]
Why Mil to Mil Life Wasn’t for Us Anymore
One of the most common questions people ask me when they find out I served in the military is why did you leave? Why didn’t you stay until retirement? And while the retirement package is desirable. There is a lot of hard work and sacrifice required to get to that point. Military members who are […]
Finding Balance in Life after Leaving the Military
Sometimes I feel as though I am making a choice between my children and my life. I feel pulled in two very different directions that makes me feel as if I take care of one I’m neglecting the other. I’m trying to find balance in life, but it is so hard. Before I became a […]
What is Fear Stopping You From Doing?
When I joined the military I was just a normal girl. There wasn’t anything special about me. I had the same fears about the military everyone else has, but I had a desire to serve my country. To be something more, but I wasn’t actually sure I could do it. But I am a doer […]
Don’t Thank Me For My Military Service Today
Please don’t thank me for my military service today. You see, today is Memorial Day. Today is a day to honor the fallen. The ones who signed up to serve and never made it home. They could have died in a training accident, a failed mission or fighting for our freedom in distant lands. Today […]
Military Spouse Perspective Shift
When I was in the military I was part of the military spouse community. I enjoyed spending time with my friends who were military spouses, but I didn’t quite understand what they were going. Then I left the military and my military spouse perspective shifted. The military spouse community is a pretty unique group. They […]
