You Can't Always Get What You Want!

Today is "TBT" aka "Throw Back Thursday." And I didn't post a past picture of something from my childhood, or that happened yesterday to me. Well darn it all to heck.

But another thing came to my mind. Since I'm going to be going back home to visit family and friends in the near future. Something that has sparked a bit of nostalgia and reasoning.

Let's start from the beginning.
I grew up in a pretty close knit family. Even though all my relatives lived about 3 hours or so away from my immediate family (aka parents and sister) I still bonded with most of them...you know, hugs, kisses, storytelling, etc. The normal kind of relationships most children have with their relatives. It wasn't until I was married and then moved overseas that I didn't realize how much I took seeing my family for granted. I became severely depressed, riddled with homesickness and guilt for not doing more things with my family before I went on this maiden voyage.

And this is where my point (and title to this blog) jumps in:

During that time I was living overseas with my military husband, I wasn't able to fly back home for a whole year. Most military families actually don't see their parents, etc. for longer than that. I don't know how some families conquer that separation, but (and I will be saying this many times during this blog post) "That's what some families have to sacrifice for a job, career, etc."

Now we're living stateside. SO. MUCH. BETTER. Even though our families are still a quarter of a day's drive apart, I would so rather take that on than a 2 day plane ride and spending the night at a hotel. I have needs, lol.

But this is where I'm getting at. The Rolling Stones couldn't have said it better. You CAN'T always get what you want. And that includes living close to your family no matter how hard you try to obtain a job within an hour's drive. My husband desperately tried applying for a position which was a little over 2 hours from both our families and unfortunately there were no open positions available during his time of application. We were bummed but we are making this place we're at now work. Because that's what some families have to sacrifice for a job, career, etc.

And it's not like either of us can't stand our families, because we both are extremely close to them. My mom and I talk at least 3 times a week for sometimes 4 hours per call. I am very, very close with my parents and sister and always have been. And even though there is a gap in distance between their homes and ours, our bonds have only gotten stronger.

I think it's GOOD to have a distance between you and your loved ones sometimes. Not like the distance both my husband/I and our families had while we were overseas (that was WAY too much!) but the distance we have now is decent. Of course we would love to live closer. Of course it would be awesome to live right down the street from them but that's what some families have to sacrifice for a job, career, etc. You can't always get what you want!!

So I leave you all (the one or two) who are actually reading this blog post with this:

If you are teetering on the fence between continually living close to family or making your dream career come true...make sure YOU are happy with what you choose. Living by family is great and we would love to have lived closer but my husband and I are happily living a little farther apart and creating potential future goals because my husband received this job offer and took it. It's HEALTHY to have some separation between yourself and family if it means you can flourish and create some roots for YOUR career or job.
Because that's what some families have to sacrifice for a job, career, etc.
You can't always get what you want!