Positive Turns

I never thought I would enjoy teaching. 

I really, really thought I would hate it. I didn't think I would be any good at it. I thought I would teach my first class and I would walk away from it. 

I didn't think I would love it. 

And I really, really do. 

In the last class I taught at ACS last week, we had all the students/volunteers introduce themselves, let us know where they were from, tell us what their FRG experiences had been like. I stood in the front with a fellow instructor with twenty-seven-years in, still an active-duty spouse, and we listened to the different paths, the different stories, different experiences.

Almost every person in that class was taking it because they felt that something "wasn't right" in their current FRG, or it was broken, or their experience had been so poor before. I couldn't help but think how much that takes of a person to look at something that is broken, that in some cases has done harm, and to choose to be part of the team that rebuilds. To take that initiative. To say "this stops here." "This changes now." "I am part of the positive turn."

That is what is incredible about military spouses. That is what makes us strong, what makes our community strong. 

When something is broken, we fix it. When something is hurting, we heal it. We don't wait for someone else to step up, for someone else to demand a change. We choose to become part of the positive change, part of the greater good.

So much of this life - of any life - is about being the one who steps forward, who says, "This isn't right," "We can do better."So much of this life is about acting now, becoming part of the positive in this moment, creating healing and goodness today.

It isn't about waiting for someone else.

Our soldiers didn't wait for someone else to step up.

They chose to be part of something great.

The women (and one man) in this class chose to embrace the life, to not be beaten down by previous, negative experiences. They took the broken bits and chose to try to fix them. That takes courage. That takes faith. It takes goodness and strength and determination. 

To believe in good, to strive for good, after living through bad should be applauded and fostered and encouraged. 

It was heartwarming and reinvigorating to see so many people ready to be part of the positive. 

I now understand why people teach for their lifetimes, why people put up with the behind the scenes paperwork and administrative. I understand why people give so much of themselves in a classroom. You get to be part of fostering that goodness. You witness determination. You can see the resolve in people to keep pushing, to keep thriving. You see the spark catching.

It's remarkable. It's breathtaking. It's empowering. 

You choose what you do with any situation. You choose what you take part in and what you step away from. You may never know how much good you do, but you always choose how much good you don't. 

You can choose goodness each day. EVERY day you get to decide. Thrive or sit back. Fix something or let it sit idle, or continue to break, or continue to do harm. Become part of the positive or wait for someone else to.

It really is amazing when you really get to thinking.

You decide when and where good exists. That tiny spark is waiting. You get to choose. Goodness spreads. 

Go ahead, set the world on fire.