In the Trenches

 Soundtrack Selection: Survivor by Destiny's Child

Having spent the last couple of years in the heart of the military-industrial complex, I've had occasion to meet "a few good men" and women with military experience. Through hearing their stories, I've learned that once you've spent time in any one of the five branches, you're permanently connected and forever drawn back to that community. Now although I have my own opinions about the military, I've learned that these guys and gals experienced something "in the trenches" that was special, that changed them and in their eyes, turned them into a better, more purposeful human being.

It got me to thinking about my own life and about what has changed me and made me into the person I am today. I realized that in some ways (a very overly-analyzed, philosophical way...I'm mean this is Katie Mac writing after all) my experience is not too different from theirs. No, I've never shot a gun, worn camo or spit tobacco around a pit fire with my fellow comrades (although I have crawled on my stomach through a mud pit and climb over a rope wall while being berated by a man in uniform...very stimulating!). However, I do know a thing or two about "being in the trenches."

Most of what happens in life that changes us is the stuff that happens down in the mud. The hard stuff, the tough moments are what define us. When your plan doesn't quite work out  and you've got to strategically maneuver yourself out of a threatening situation, you start to realize exactly how strong, how resilient and how capable you really are.

I look at some people and see a life that's seemingly perfect. They made a plan and their life turned out exactly the way they wanted it. They're happy, things are calm, not too eventful and they're content. I intentionally used the word "seemingly" because in most cases, the more perfect something seems from the outside, the more likely all hell is breaking loose behind the scenes. But there are those people who just live their lives to keep things predictable, to keep themselves inside a warm, cozy bubble of safety.

That's just not for me. Sure, there's something to be said for safety and security...predictability and caution. But for me, that's not living life...that's just getting by. Because for me, life happens when I put myself out there and jump. Life happened when I sat alone in a hail storm, scared out of my mind in the middle of "Nowheresville," AZ. Life happened when I stood in the bustling basement office of Capitol Hill Village two years ago with no clue about how I was going to fill the big shoes that had been handed me. It happened a couple of months ago on the third crappy, disappointing first date in a row. It happened, again, at two in the morning sitting on my bed, hugging and crying and laughing all at the same time with one of my best friends in the world.
 
Sure, we don't wish for the "trenches" of our life. It's not usually fun, but it is down in those "trenches" that we really get to see what we're made of. I feel stupid, vulnerable and incredibly insecure down in the mud. And I realize my life might be messy at times, but it's the grime and dust and mud of my foxholes and the pals who are down  there with me that have made my life.

So "oorah" or "hooah"or whatever the hell it is you say (I already got in trouble from my Army friend for originally only using oorah...look, I don't know this military etiquette crap...jeez...get off my case) my good buddies! Don't let those trenches get you down. Life always has its upswings and you'll be better prepared to appreciate and make something of them having spent some time "fighting the good fight!"