School Doesn't Teach That!

I really love today's prompt of Jenni's "Blog Every Day In May"-challenge: Things you've learned that school won't teach you.

I appreciate that I had the chance to go to school in Germany, but still there are plenty of skills that no school will be able to teach you. The greatest skill life taught me is patience.

I've never been a patient person. I'm a planner, doer, and control freak. If there's an issue, I'll go and fix it. Until I encountered the first major obstacle, when there was nothing for me to do but wait. Needless to say, that didn't go well; it's embarrassing to mention, but tantrums ensued that would have made every toddler proud.

And thanks to the Army, there were plenty of occasions to practice patience. Waiting for orders, waiting for appointments at the on-post hospital, waiting for the hubby to come home.

And once we finally received our ETS orders, I got to keep learning: waiting for the call back after a job interview, waiting on the decision whether we would get the apartment, and most recently, waiting on our building permit.

There are times, when the learning process is difficult. When the uncertainty causes me having panic attacks and insomnia, but I have learned methods to cope. I have learned that there are things I cannot influence, and freaking out won't help a thing. So I need to distract myself, even if it's hard in the beginning. I have learned how to calm myself actively through meditation and breathing techniques.

I have to admit, I am almost thankful for all the challenges, because it helped me acquire a skill that helps me whenever I have to leave my comfort zone: being patient, wait without freaking out and driving the hubby up the wall by running around like crazy, trying to do something, no matter how senseless it is. Patience to focus my energy on enjoying my time with my family, give the best I can at work, and don't waste my time on worrying and generally freaking out.

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