Happy Veteran's Day!

For all the awesome people supporting or watching the Accidental Woman project from countries around the world, this post has an obvious focus on the United States and our Veteran's Day holiday. Perhaps your nation has it's own holiday dedicated to its service members, but even so, it probably wouldn't hurt to take an extra moment to appreciate them today too :D

Today is the day to say thank you to all of our veterans for their sacrifice and service. Often, when we think of service members, we think of those that have died in service to our country. Memorial Day is a somber holiday for those that have paid that ultimate price for us; I think it makes Veteran's Day a much more uplifting holiday because it's a chance to appreciate those that are still alive.

I myself am a disabled veteran, and I've lost a friend and seen more injured performing their duty. It's easy to let that overshadow the commitment and sacrifice from every member of our armed forces, which is a shame in my opinion. Whether they have ever deployed, or even left the borders of the United States, volunteering for military service is a major commitment. In a very real way it is giving up one's free will--the essence of freedom itself--in service of one's country. It's going where you are told, and completing the mission, whatever the risks and whatever the cost.

In a more tangible legal sense, volunteering to serve is giving up many of the constitutional rights that you are sworn to protect. But this is far from the only sacrifice our service members make. Many work long hours with staggering workloads, often working strange shifts and giving up weekends. I can personally attest to the amount of work and stress... one of the strangest things in my transition back to civilian life was how little work civilians seemed to do. I found that in the civilian sector they often had two or three employees to do the work that was routinely assigned to a single service member. This isn't to say "civilians are lazy" or anything silly like that, after all, what business would pay the salary of two people when one was sufficient? It's just that military members are expected and required to do more. And they do, largely without complaint.

When you add in deployments that separate service members from their families, training and exercises that usually have their own share of injuries (as well as the occasional fatality), and several other compounding factors, it adds up to a heavy burden.

I sincerely believe that it is a wonderful thing that we have so many that are willing to shoulder that burden for us, and that are doing so at this very moment. I once saw a TED talk that said that being thankful and appreciating what you have is the key to happiness. I don't know how true that really is, but I do know that taking the time to appreciate our service members today, and to be thankful for all the basic freedoms that I enjoy (that so many in the world do not), transforms Veteran's Day into a happy day for me. Give it a try for yourself :D

And of course, for all my fellow veterans out there, thank you for your service. It is greatly respected and appreciated!