Our Journey in Life

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Anedra Conlan
  • 60th Force Support Squadron

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Life is full of changes that bring different chapters in our lives. There are the carefree early childhood days, awkward adolescence, high school, and for some, college. Our 20s, 30s, 40s and for those lucky enough, even wiser ages of life. 

You name it, there are several compartmentalized phases and events that can represent who we are at different times in our lives. These phases and events all tie together to create our journey in life.

Our lives are always changing. As a teenager, I struggled with changing locations every three or four years as an ‘Army Brat.’ During my freshman year of high school, my family moved from Raytown, Missouri, to Fairbanks, Alaska. What an experience that was. Nothing can prepare your body, mind and soul for temperatures below zero degrees Fahrenheit. A Missouri winter could not stand up to an Alaskan winter. I attended Lathrop High, one of five high schools in the Fairbanks area. The school was filled with a mixture of military and non-military students, who either lived in the city all their lives or moved there because of the military or the oil pipeline.

One day in social studies class, I remember the topic of discussion was traveling around the world. Each student talked about places they lived and where they wanted to travel to. Soon it was my turn to share. I stood up and talked about all the places we lived being in the military.  Prior to Alaska, my family had lived in four different states. 

The awe and curiosity across the classroom, didn’t settle too well with me at first. But, everyone in the class wanted details of all the places I had been. The majority of the class never left the state of Alaska and the rest of the class had not experienced the opportunity to travel like me. I was a little confused, why would you want to move every three or four years and lose your friends?

My classmates just wanted a change from their everyday life. Something I had taken for granted being in the military. I realized that my life as an ‘Army Brat’ wasn’t that bad. The experiences and people I have met throughout my life from being a military family member to a chief master sergeant have been priceless. 

Our journey in life is filled with lessons learned, hardships, celebrations and special moments that will lead us to our destination, our purpose in life. Sometimes we have a hard time accepting this. As I matured throughout the years, I learned that we should not let a chapter define or determine who we are and whether or not we are happy. When we associate our happiness with these chapters, we are constantly at risk of losing our happiness when things change. Change is going to come, its unavoidable, you cannot escape it, it’s the nature of life.