Recently, I had another Army wife who lives here in town tell me that there’s nothing to do here and she really doesn’t like this town. I was a little in shock. I think there’s lots to do here and I love living here. If real estate prices weren’t so completely insane, I would really love it here! Later that week, I took her downtown since they were having a festival on River Street. We also parked close to Leopold’s Ice Cream and then walked through City Market.
She was completely in awe. She kept telling me how awesome this was and she couldn’t believe she had never seen this part of town. So I asked her what she had based her earlier judgment on? The mall? The grocery story? The clinic on post? LOL! And she couldn’t really answer me.
This is not the first time I’ve run into this attitude. Either in real life or through the website via emails, it seems to be rather popular to hate where you are. I read a post on a message board once that said there was nothing to do in Jacksonville, FL. WHAT?! There’s so much to do there. We used to go there on the weekends before my husband joined the Army so we would have something to do!
I realize its not easy as an Army family to always have to be moving, starting over, leaving friends behind and the comfort of knowing your way around where you live. But before you judge your new place, GET OUT THERE! Explore the town…beyond the gates of the post. Go to the visitor’s center and pick up every brochure you see. Find out what your new town has to offer and then look at it with an open mind. Maybe your favorite activity isn’t offered there but what about branching out and trying something new? It’s a shame the store you always shop at or the restaurant you always eat at isn’t in your new town, but rather than sulk about it…try something new!
Part of the joy of being a part of the military is that you do get to experience new things, new people and new places. Take advantage of the fact that you get to live there. The town we’re in now is a hot tourist destination…there has to be a reason for that, right? So go out and find out what all the fuss is about, then make up your mind.
Keep in mind as well that you will seek out what you want to make true. If you decide ahead of time that your new place sucks, then you will subconsciously look for things that reinforce your belief and ignore things that go against it. But the same is true when you tell yourself that it is going to be a positive experience. Let’s face it, the Army won’t move you just because you decide you don’t like the new town. So why not find a way to be happy about it and not waste time being down in the dumps about something you can’t change? Isn’t it better to be positive?
Think about it…
Great post! I am a new army and my husband just left for BCT a little over a week ago. Before he left, we had been living here for two years. Before here, we lived where both of us had been born and raised. I started thinking how, when he gets back from AIT, we will have to move wherever they want us to move, and how I love where we live now. But, then I realized that, the same way we had moved away from our places of birth and migrated two states away and made it home, we could do it again. (and again, and again if necessary) The more I think about it, the more I realize that home is not defined by the state, or even country we land in. It is defined by us all being together, whether in the physical, or spirit. I plan to keep an open mind about wherever we may be sent. And besides, I shop at Walmart. Unless they plop us in the middle of a rainforest, I should be able to find a Walmart!