My Personal Vision, version 2020

A personal vision is a statement of what you want to be which affects the goals and priorities that you set, the decisions that you make, and the way you spend your time. It's a statement that inspires you. This is the WHY to everything you do.

I was tasked to write out my personal vision statement in connection with a command spouse course I am taking this week (i.e. how to best support my spouse and the command when my husband eventually takes over). I really took this task to heart, grasping it as an opportunity to define what my why is - something I have been unable to pin down for so long.

So in a moment of vulnerability but maybe also in a moment of strength to own and accept the person that I am, I wanted to share with you my personal vision statement.

The fuel behind what I do is the love and dedication I have for my family, my friends, and my community.

I will be strong and healthy and fit so that I am physically able to run with my kids during soccer practice, sail with my husband around the Mediterranean after retirement, mow my neighbor's lawn when their spouse is deployed, or stay up late into the night to sew another 100 masks for the school. I can't help others unless I am physically able to do so.

I will be mindful, calm, and mentally strong so that I am able to provide the patience, support, and love to the relationships that matter the most to me - my husband, my children, my family, my friends, my neighbors, my community. That also means learning how to give myself grace when I make mistakes. I need to remember that progress is more important than perfection and that I am allowed to be happy and define success on my own terms. Only when I am emotionally and mentally healthy can I provide the best support and counseling to others.

I will be committed to a lifetime of learning. My passion for history did not stop in graduate school but continues forward so that I can make informed decisions, speak with authority and knowledge, and educate my children to also disavow ignorance from their lives.

I am a maker - someone who sews quilts, hand stamps cards, or fusses over a December Daily album filled with memories of the holidays. I value the art of working with your hands and creating something from nothing. It provides me calm and purpose and the ability to make gifts for people - gifts that show them that I value them, that I love them, that they have a place and a purpose in my life.

I am a lawyer because I enjoy my job. I enjoy having an identity outside of my children and my spouse. I take pride in financially contributing to my family and knowing that I have a skill set that I will further develop to continue to help others.

I want to grow - there is so much room for improvement especially in my physical and mental health. But there are so many things that I am proud of now that I want to maintain despite the upcoming moves and many changes and challenges as my husband approaches the next chapter of his military career.

This my why. The WHY I need to grow and improve. The WHY I need to maintain and sustain. The WHY that I need to remember when I'm tired at the end of the day or when a child is crying out for daddy in the middle of the night or when we are packing boxes to move. This is my why. THIS is my why.