Day 7 - What's in a week?

One week

7 days

168 hours

10, 080 minutes

604, 800 seconds

Perspective matters! One week ago we said goodbye to M2. Only ONE week ago. Sounds small - insignificant. And in "army time" it really is. M2 spends weeks away ALL the time. The only difference this past week is the knowledge that it is the start of something a lot longer. It is good to sometimes step back and look at the bigger picture because there are PLENTY of times I have counted the seconds, minutes, etc ...

There are differing opinions amongst army wives as to how you should countdown your time. Counting down the months means there are only 12 of something you have to do until he is back. 12 FRG meetings, 12 coffees, 12 free saturday daycares! 12 doesn't seem that bad. If someone were to ask me would you rather have 12 blows to the stomach OR 365? I dare say I would choose the lesser number! BUT if they were to say would you like to have 12 chocolate pastries OR 365? I would choose the higher! (and then puke!)

I choose to countdown by days even though it may make it seem longer to some. It doesn't to me. It means that every day I get to say to myself "you accomplished another day"! Instead of waiting for a month to pass before I allow myself to feel closer - I get to feel closer every morning when I awake! And time is time! When the men were in formation getting prepared to board the bus, my oldest "E" started to cry. Someone (maybe even me but my memory is foggy) said to her, "It will go by so fast, you will see". "E" has Aspergers Syndrome - she is about as logical as they come. She responded with, "365 days is 365 days - time is always the same."! Smart kid. She knows something a lot of us don't. Time will not compromise itself for us. It is a constant and it will not accept our request for more or less of it. We say, "If only I had more time I would do ___" and then turn around and say "I wish time would speed up". Maybe we need to all just start accepting time for what it is and using it!

I will continue to count down by days! I can say, "Praise you God that I made it through this day, Praise you God that my husband is safe this night" and then when those days turn into weeks and months I will say "Praise you God that you have allowed those hard won days to turn into weeks and months"! And then, eventually, I will be praising God for winning the 365 day battle!

(FYI - I am preaching this to myself! Just today I wished time would speed up!)