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Milspouse Empowerment: What It Is and Where To Find It

Writer's picture: Sarah PeacheySarah Peachey

For those just entering military life, either as a spouse or the significant other of a service member, it can be overwhelming. There are so many things we need to learn, sometimes quickly, and it's shocking when the military tells us when we're moving, where we're moving, who our doctor is, where our kids will go to school, and more. We get comfortable in a location, but then we move on. We must find ways to adapt and overcome the obstacles.

But as I often say in my writing, remember that there is a "you" here too. Even when you have to quit your job and move to a new location to potentially start over—again—your goals are still important.


While it doesn't get easier saying goodbye and uprooting once every two or three years or fitting ourselves into military life, we can certainly get better at coping with it. One of the best ways is by empowering ourselves in this military life.


We hear the word "empowerment" a lot—almost as much as we hear "resilience"—and sometimes, the meaning gets lost in the repetitive use of these words. It has become a buzzword, because it's important.


What is empowerment?


Empowerment is the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in cont

rolling your life and claiming your rights. Without muddying the waters too much, empowerment exists in five categories: social, political, psychological, educational, and economic. Resilience is different—it's the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Those of us who have been around the military for a while might have a graceful set of armor, but that doesn't mean we are confident or know how to take control of our lives when it's needed.


We may be resilient, but we might not be empowered.

You might have snickered at the thought of controlling your life in the military culture, but it is possible. Sure, we can't control every aspect of our lives. I mean, I don't even know where I'll be living next year! For many of you out there, you might not know how much longer you'll be able to work at your current location, you don't know what the next set of schools will be like for your kids, you don't know what sort of necessary health care options will be available at your next destination, and you have no idea what your service member's OPTEMPO will be like.


Even if you're able to list your duty stations in order of preference, you still don't know what you're getting.


This is where empowerment (and resilience) is important, but telling you that only gets you halfway there.


For details on where to find empowerment (it's closer than you think!), visit armywifenetwork.com.



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