He wakes up at 5:30 am. He works out for an hour. He can run eight miles. He can do 80 push ups. He can sleep anywhere, even on the hood of a HMMWV. He can eat anything including the egg omelet MRE. And he wears that uniform like it’s his job. Because well, it is part of his job. He’s in the military.
I have so much respect for my husband. Not only because he is a kind, devoted, well-mannered man, but also because he is a hard-working patriotic soldier who makes sacrifices for his job and country. I have respect for all soldiers in the military. Most of all because I know I could never do it!
Reasons I Couldn’t Be in the Military
1. I can’t do a push-up. Not a single one. I’m such a weakling! I have no upper body strength, and I’m OK with that. I can’t do a push-up, and I don’t want to do one! So, dropping and giving someone 20 is not going to happen!
2. I’m a baby … meaning I’m emotional. If I was getting yelled at, I would be bawling my eyes out. I’m a sensitive person, and I can’t stand it when someone doesn’t like me. I can’t handle it when someone is pushing me, and I don’t work well under pressure. I would never make it through basic!
3. I’m a planner. I like schedules and plans. I’m not very flexible, and I do not like change. I would hate thinking I’m going to be in the field this certain week, only to find out the day before that now it’s that certain week instead. And finding out you may be getting deployed, but you have to wait and find out. And then it changes again… and again. I’d have a dang panic attack!
4. I’m a picky eater. Those MREs look disgusting. I know they say if you get hungry enough you’ll eat anything, but I would probably start to starve first. And when I’m hungry, I’m moody. Nobody would like me! (which takes me back to #2)
5. I’m impatient. I want to know and I want to know now. Of course, this isn’t how it works in the military. You have no control and there’s a whole lot of “hurry up and wait” going on!
6. I’m not a morning person. I don’t like waking up early. In fact, I’ve worked from home for so long that I’m not used to waking up to an alarm. And waking up early to go run and do push ups? No thanks!
7. I’m high maintenance. By that I mean I’m a high maintenance sleeper! I need pillows and blankets and a fan and darkness and … comfort. I would not be able to sleep on a cot in the middle of the desert, or inside a HMMWV. And with little sleep, I get grumpy. Add in the lack of food and the sore muscles from all those push ups…. Yeah, I’d make one terrible soldier.
So to those of you who can do push ups, look good in that uniform, eat MREs on a regular basis, go with the flow and handle being yelled at — thank you. Thank you for putting up with the not-so-fun parts of your job. Thank you for sacrificing for your country.
What about you? Could you be in the military?
Check out these other fun military posts:
- Things to Do When Hubby is Away
- 6 Things I Learned as a New Military Spouse
- 6 Things You Can Learn from Deployment
Check out my Pinterest board Military Life.
Great post! Our favorite term is “voluntold.” It was a challenge to schedule time to communicate when Chase was overseas thanks to his unpredictable “shifts” at work. That is…all of the hours they voluntold him to be somewhere after he had worked his 12 hours that day. I could never handle that!
Kariana Wolfe recently posted…Meal Plan {11}
Thanks Kariana! 🙂