Did you know research shows that simple joys like dancing around the room in your PJs are important to our overall happiness?
Studies indicate that our experience of happiness in life, to a great degree, is made up of simple daily joys. It’s a matter of learning to be in the moment enough to enjoy simple pleasures as they occur. Not so easy in our fast-paced military lives.
Thinking back to my childhood some of my fondest memories are the times I spent with my mom in the kitchen. I have an image etched into my memory of me standing in my “spot” at the end of the counter, watching my mom cook dinner. I also smile when I remember making snickerdoodle or spritz cookies with her. It’s one of the ways I learned to cook – by watching her while we talked. This is why I love to cook and want to create those same memories with my children.
The Army’s Performance Triad focuses on three pillars for total health: sleep, exercise, and nutrition. These pillars work together to create physically healthier and emotionally happier families, in addition to directly affecting Soldiers’ on-the-job performance.
The military makes it a little challenging to maintain a professional career while transitioning from duty station to duty station. Due to frequent change, military spouses often have to search for a new job in every location. If your profession requires a license, like teaching, you are required to relicense in a new state, which costs a military spouse job seeker time and money. This process is hard on military families because paying for more education or testing to obtain the new license comes on top of the cost of moving and setting up a household. In addition, the family has also lost a second income. The length of time the family will remain in the location, the state’s requirements, and the cost, all factor into whether the military spouse will seek the new license and look for employment.
Years ago, Cheryl Richardson, a life coach and author of Take Time for Your Life and many other books, was booed by the audience of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Why? Because she suggested that mothers need to take time for themselves.
My co-author, Holly Scherer, and I used to get a similar reaction to our first book title, Help! I’m a Military Spouse—I Get a Life Too! People would say, “That’s selfish.”
By whose definition? Research on happiness in life indicates that one of the keys to happiness is to know what you want in life and to work toward that goal. That includes doing activities you enjoy for work and for play.
Online education is here to stay. It’s a great option whether you’re looking for something that lets you go back to school while juggling a family or work schedule, you just don’t want to deal with the hassle of transferring if you move, or you want to be able to learn at the pace that works best for you. Even long-established colleges and universities now have online programs—but with all the online training options, how do you choose? What are the signs that a program will be worth your time and money.
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