We all find our way forward

I called my son last night: he took his physical and qualification tests for the Air Force on Thursday - Friday. We'd arranged to talk about what he had learned about the opportunities and about what he was thinking about doing.

It turned out that he had already enlisted.

I should have expected it: he's making a his own decisions now, choosing his own future. We've always said that our goal as parents was to raise capable and confident adults who could be independent and successful in whatever they chose to do. This really feels like the step over that threshold.

He is excited about having the chance to be part of the Space Command or an AWACS group (he got a 97 / 100 on the test, so he says that he has the whole range of job options open to him). He sees a path to getting his degree or his commission, to living in other places, to traveling around the world. He's sorted out the differences in pay and benefits, $300 per month that he gets with the 6- over the 4-year enlistment option.

He's absolutely following his heart on this: I still have a thousand questions and worries that I struggle with in my head.

But I followed my passions too, when I jumped at a three-year expatriate position here: a better job, living overseas, earning more.

I suppose that we are both looking to ambition, belonging, and commitment (although that may be more of my reality-lens than his similarity). In the end, I suspect we'll both find what we are looking for.

And, in the end, my hope is that we all find our happinesses too.

Integrity First
Service Before Self
Excellence in All We Do
-- US Air Force Core Values