Just Do It!
“Just do it!”
No, not the kinds of things Nike encourages, although that stuff is good! I’m talking today about things specifically related to military spouse friendships.
By nature, I’m mostly an introvert, so when it comes to jumping into new friendships, it isn’t always easy for me. However, one thing military spouse life has taught me is that if I don’t capitalize on opportunities when they’re presented, I miss out on some good stuff!
Let me share a couple of examples of this, one negative (not bad, just more sad) and one positive.
A sad example:
Last year, there was a chaplain’s spouse stationed where I’m currently living whom I wanted to get to know. I’d been around her in groups and communicated now and again on social media, but she was the type of person I wanted to spend one-on-one time with and maybe even ask for some mentoring from her.
But, I didn’t say anything to her.
Months and months went by. I kept rationalizing with thoughts like, “She’s probably way too busy to spend time with me,” or “Why would she be interested in a relationship like that with me?”
I finally did get up the courage to talk to her about what I was thinking, only to find out she was going to PCS in a short amount of time. Sigh. We made a coffee date anyway.
When we talked that day, she expressed such sadness that I hadn’t said anything earlier. She told me she would have been encouraged and blessed by the time we would have had together.
We got together a time or two more before she left, and we both felt a keen loss of what might have been if I’d listened to the “Just do it!” mantra.
A happy example
Flip forward to last Tuesday.
While talking to a group of ladies at our Protestant Women of the Chapel summer session, I noticed a woman I didn’t recognize walk in the door. Before I could talk myself out of it, I broke away from the group to welcome her and introduce myself. What followed was a fun get-to-know-you conversation with a plethora of shared experiences, circumstances, and life events!
When PWOC was over, I had another minute to chat with her. Again, before I could talk myself out of it, I asked, “Would you like to get some lunch together?” And she did! So we sat at Panera for an hour, sharing stories about life. It was marvelous! We have plans to get together again soon and to get our teen daughters together as well.
I would have missed out on so much had I not jumped when the opportunity was there!
I share these stories to encourage those who might struggle with being outgoing or those who feel they don’t want to “burden” anyone by asking to be their friend.
Please, for both your sakes, “Just do it!”
