At some point in school, most students hear of Newton’s Law of Motion. The third law is the most familiar: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

In my opinion, this law can also be applied to some of the emotions that take place within military life.

Such as:

• The service member is going to the promotion board
• Service member’s promotion board is delayed

• Service member is working the weekend
• Service member is off for the weekend

• Service member will be home for the event
• Service member is going to miss a special event

• Service member is deploying
• Service member is now not deploying
• Service member is now deploying again

With each of these situations, there are the emotions that go with it. While we don’t push back when it’s a positive situation, we often start pushing back when the situation is negative.

Many times, I feel that the reason our emotions shift gears is because we are completely out of control of the situation. Unlike Newton’s Law, our emotions don’t stop the events we view as negative. They roll into our lives and keep on rolling.

Another aspect is the constant change—where the opposite reaction really plays. Something positive will happen, then things change and they shift to the opposite direction… along with it, our emotions.

One side of our pendulum

I’m going on 12 years in this Army life and the only thing that has ever been constant is the inconsistency. While it’s likely we may get a little better about predicting the next event, that still doesn’t change how the situation will affect our emotions.

The bounce back

My advice? Remember that no matter how many times it feels like you are caught in the middle of Newton’s Law, look for the bounce back—the point in time when the action is not opposite of the reaction, but the same. Take the bounce-backs and run with them, enjoy them.

As long as you’re living this military life, you will have both the good and the bad. The key to being successful is making the best of the situation and kicking some physics laws in the backside from time to time.