3. When you feel like you are positively unraveling…
“Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick and pull yourself together.” – Elizabeth Taylor
There is something perfectly wonderful about this quote. Perhaps it’s the way it makes me envision pulling myself up by my proverbial bootstraps with Elizabeth Taylor-esque glamour and flair, all while swirling a martini. It’s two parts empowering and one part comical, and I value its frankness. Plus, it gives me a vision, one that’s slightly larger-than-life, a little bit tongue and cheek, and a whole lot motivating. The fact is, during deployment, we need visions to help us stay focused on charging forward. And sometimes, we need advice put to us directly. So, the next time you’re having a good old-fashioned pity party, you might just think, “What would Liz do?”, and then reach for your Revlon and march on fabulously through your day.
4. When it feels like deployment will never end…
“Don’t watch the clock. Do what it does. Keep going.”
– Sam Levenson
Regardless of the length of deployment, there is always that point when it feels like it will never, ever end. The feeling of dragging time can weigh heavy on your soul, cloud your outlook, and beckon the demons of resentment, anger, blame and bitterness to overtake your mind. Once those demons arrive, they are difficult to send away, and you might just give up and let them stay.
But this is the point when, like you’re a student of CT Fletcher, you need to command yourself to keep going. Recognize that it’s still you’re set, you have more work to do, and your only choice is to keep pushing. Deployment will end, your set will complete, and you’ll be glad you finished strong.
Deployment is a challenging beast to wrestle, and some deployments are more challenging than others. But, so much of our success depends on our attitude. Contemplating inspirational words like these can help train our brains to keep thinking positively and combat the negative thoughts that bring us down or cripple us with anxiety.
I have my own favorite inspirations hanging on my wall. When a deployment traps me in a funk, reading encouraging words helps me refocus my lenses and climb my way out.
Do you have a favorite quote that gives you momentum? Share it in the comments! You might be giving another spouse the just the right motivation at just the right time.
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