Military PCS has the reputation for being a challenging, emotional, and hectic time. And rightfully so. There is no such thing as a stress-free PCS. But a military PCS can also be the perfect opportunity to seek out ways to simplify your life, if you let it.
There is definitely something therapeutic about shedding the old and starting anew. It’s true for the service members, as well as the families.
Opportunity to Declutter: Simplifying your Household Goods
I’ve said this before, but I will say it again. Military families have an opportunity to assess our belongings every few years. We have an advantage in this regard. Every time we PCS, we can take the opportunity to get rid of things we no longer need.
So while the average American household has about 300,000 items in their house – I am willing to bet military households average less than that. It is common practice for us to purge before a PCS (even if we are not aspiring minimalists).
But this doesn’t mean military families do not PCS from place to place without excess. I once met a family that had over 35,000 lbs of household goods. If you’ve PCSed OCONUS, that’s over 35 crates! There are plenty of us moving unnecessary clutter around the world because we haven’t really put the effort into letting go of the excess.
Less physical clutter equates to a less cluttered mind. It helps us to keep some of that PCS stress under control.
Once you let go of the excess, it feels good to set up a new (to us) home, just the way you like it. You bring in only your favorite things, have a place for everything, and no clutter in sight. Doesn’t that sound nice?
Opportunity to Make New Friends
When you live the military family life, you make friends that become like family. This is, undoubtedly, one of the hardest parts of military life – saying goodbye to your amazing friends when you PCS.
But let’s be honest here! There are people at every duty station that we don’t mind cutting ties with and saying goodbye. It’s kind of nice that the difficult people are only in our lives temporarily. Sometimes, I think about our life after the military. I will be in my forever home, and I worry about the possibility of being stuck next to a crappy neighbor… foreverrr…
But I digress…
Maybe you have a friend or two from a previous assignment at your new location. But for the most part, we’re starting a fresh social circle, every time we PCS. I have made some amazing friends – several of whom will be my friends for life. I call them my “4 Quarters” (even though there are more than 4.)
As I tell my kids every time we PCS “we wouldn’t have met those friends if we didn’t move in the first place.” Sometimes, I should listen to my own boring lectures.
Opportunity to be More Selective with Your Time Commitments
By the end of every assignment, most of us have accumulated many different time commitments outside of work. Softball league? Teaching Sunday School? Coaching a football team? Leading Scouts?
PCS is an opportunity to wrap up those commitments. There is some relief in that.
Then you can think about whether or not you’d like to get involved again at your new duty station. And since it’s a new location – there is no expectation – it is completely up to you. That’s the beauty of it. So if you want to simplify your time commitments, PCS is the perfect time.
Opportunity to Start Fresh at a New Job
This one is a no-brainer. Every PCS is an opportunity to start a new job, for the servicemember. Even if the position is the same, you have a new boss, new co-workers, you’re in a different location, etc. It may not always be a completely new slate, but every PCS serves as a bit of a reset. You are starting fresh and bringing with you some lessons learned from past experiences that will hopefully serve you with opportunities to simplify.
For spouses – Despite the difficulties in finding a job from place to place, there are many spouses who obtain a new job every time they PCS. But so often, I have heard spouses talk about how they were looking forward to being done with their current job so they can find a different/better job when they PCS. I suppose this doesn’t apply to remote jobs – but there are other advantages there as well!
There is something therapeutic about wrapping up one job, successfully, and moving on to another.
PCS is a chaotic time. But we can use this opportunity to reset and simplify some aspects of our lives. Make an effort to only introduce/reintroduce what really matters to you. You’ll thank yourself later.
