The other day, I had one of my juniors come up to me and say, "Valles. Does change scare you?" Of course I had her clarify because that's not exactly the most clear way to open up a conversation. She followed up with an explanation that with us being in the military, things are constantly changing in our worlds. From where we are to what we do on a day-to-day basis. It's never the same. And I had to honestly sit back and think about what changes I'd gone through and how I felt about them.

Ya know, a year ago if you would've asked me where I'd thought I'd be at now, I would've probably said some stupid sh*t like "finishing my degree" or "working full time". A year ago I was empty, confused, and forcing myself to do what I thought I should be doing. But not what I wanted to. I felt a constant aching for something more. In all honesty I would have NEVER thought I'd enlist and completely uproot my life.

But of course, that's where my friend, Change, comes in. She threw my plans out the window, looked at me, and said, "This is how this sh*t is gonna go.."

And that's the thing. You can have all the plans you want, go ahead. Plan your little heart out. But somewhere down the road, something is gonna completely alter how you thought your life was going to go. You have to be able to adapt to the changes that come your way. Face them head on. You'll either conquer them completely, or get knocked on your ass. It's how you choose to react that sets the foundation for what continues.

So say you're going about your life, and Change comes rearing her ugly head. Say you do face her, head-to-head, toe-to-toe. And you conquer her. What then? How is that change that effects/effected your life going to make you stronger? Or weaker? Or more cautious? How does it affect you?

Say you don't conquer her. Say Change punches you dead in the nose and now you're looking up at her from the ground. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to stay down? So that next time she comes around, she can't do anything because you're already down. Are you going to get back up, adjust your process and face her again?

At the end of the day, it's up to you. I could've very well dropped out of college, went home, and worked a full time job for the remainder of my life. But I wanted change. I wanted Change to come and scramble my life a little. I craved something different. And I was prepared to deal with whatever Change brought with her. Because in my eyes, you don't learn anything when things are stagnant. Routines don't teach you anything but how to do the same thing over, and over, and over, and over and over. Sameness. That is dangerous.

Change is good. It teaches you how to be resilient and vigilant. It teaches you how to turn negative into positive. It teaches you that there are better things out there than what you make yourself believe you deserve. It teaches you to reach for the sky. To stand up when you fall. To stay on your toes. To never settle for less. And how to teach others the same.