Lessons I Learned from my Phone Battery
It’s no secret that many aspects of our lives, especially as military spouses, are very serious. The challenges, the unknowns, the changed no-plan plans. All of it.
If we aren’t careful, we (ahem, as in—myself) can get sucked down with a pretty negative attitude.
In the seriousness of this world, I’m on a mission to bring a little bit of humor to it, especially on social media. Because, really, my sense of humor (and my faith) are sometimes the only things that keep me going.
Recently, I shared the following status on Facebook, which started quite the conversation:
“Every time someone posts a screenshot of anything from their phone and the battery bar is red below 20 percent, I outwardly cringe and internally scream ‘GO CHARGE YOUR PHONE!'”
Now, if you’re that person who likes to live on the edge and gets in the battery red zone on a regular basis, please know I’m not judging you. Honestly, I’m a little bit jealous. I can’t live footloose and fancy free like that, because if my phone battery gets below 70%, I turn on the battery-saving mode and start looking for a charger.
As I mentioned, this phone battery thought started quite a fun and humorous conversation. People started sharing that they never charge their phone until it’s at one percent. What?! Just typing that made me break out in hives.
Others mentioned that their email icon on their phone is in the tens of thousands. I have five emails in my inbox, all read and awaiting response from other people. Some of my Facebook friends said they don’t fill their gas tank up until the light comes on.
I can’t, people.
The conversation continued, and near the end I jokingly commented “Hey guys, I would love to hang around, but I need to go charge my phone… It’s at 68%.”
For some reason, that conversation stuck with me, and not just the “funny” part of it. I thought, “If I’m that concerned with recharging my phone, why am I not more concerned with recharging myself?”
And I guess the truth is, I am concerned with recharging myself, but it’s freaking hard.
I think I spend a large portion of my energy trying to come up with creative ways to keep my “battery” out of the “red zone” in this milspouse life.
Like many of you, I have a lot going on: A loving husband, currently serving as a ranger instructor here in the mountain phase of Ranger school; a preschooler and a 5-month-old baby to feed, bathe, and generally keep alive; more baby weight to lose than I care to talk about here; serving as Executive Officer and Deputy Commander for AWN; blogging for my personal website; and I recently started working on my doctorate degree.
It’s fine. Everything is fine.
Most days it is. I love what I’m called to do as a spouse, parents, volunteer, and student, but I have days where I feel like I’m in the “red zone” and desperately need a charge.
Friends, take it from me—try not to let your personal “battery” spend too much time in the red zone. I try to take a little bit of time to recharge every day, whether that’s staying up a little later than my kids to watch a show on Netflix or sitting in the car in the driveway and scrolling Facebook for the latest, greatest, most hilarious puns to share.
Sometimes our “charger” might be going to bed when the kids do, drinking a glass of La Croix sparkling water in a wine glass, sitting outside with our cup of coffee before the kids discover where we are, or hiding in a closet during nap time to read a book just for fun.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, the baby is still napping (hallelujah) and my personal battery is running a bit low today. I’m gonna need to find a charger.
