Motivation

"False motivation is better than no motivation."
I have no idea when the first time I heard that was, but it's been said many times by many people- especially when it comes to the Army. I love the Army, personally, but there's plenty who do their time n go home. This quote, however pessimistic in nature, is nothing less than true. It's plenty applicable to the civilian world, too. I've learned- often the hard way- that there's plenty of things I'm going to have to do, whether or not I like it.
I have to do WHAT?! Alright, Boss Man wants it done this way, so we're going to have to do it one way or the other. Get it done, and charlie mike- continue mission.
More than half the orders I've been given since I've been in the Army didn't make a lick of sense to me at the time. About sixty percent of those never did make sense to me. That forty percent, though, is what I try to keep in mind. Why? Because I get really, really tired of hearing people whine about something they're just going to have to do one way or another, and I try (not always succeed, but try) to not put other people through the same thing. The initial "WTF?!" is one thing, but when you're clearing out an entire room, or moving a whole lot of stuff that you're going to have to move right back, well, that's a lot of time to be negative. I'm all set with that.
Lately, I've been pretty lucky. I've been busting my butt in general- some things, yes, are getting neglected, but I'm trying. I need to be studying for the board way more than I have been. I should be doing PT on my own more during these long weekends. I should probably have gotten more cleaning done, and have this whole skirt thing figured out by now. I have, however, been running a clinic and, if I do say so myself, doing a pretty outstanding job of it, all things considered. There's more to these things than I knew there were, but I'm doing a pretty good job of using my networking skills to fill the gaps of what I haven't been able to manage on my own. I'm a young soldier- but the fact that I can say that and not flinch or catapault myself into an explanation of all the time I've been around the Army, and why I'm not "really" a young soldier says a lot for how far I've come. There's a lot to learn. I started my career feeling like I was ahead of the game, and was going to be Sergeant Major of the Army someday. Now, well, I'm looking at all these trees and realizing, hey, I'm in a forest. I still may very well retire from the Army. Outside of working for the carnival, this is the best job I've ever had, and I enjoy every second of it- well, almost every second. However, it's more important to me that I take care of my soldiers and my family than make it to the top. These soldiers, this family, they are my motivation, and without them, I couldn't ever make it to the top. Priorities!