perspective

well, it's been a couple weeks. things have been busy as usual, but i finally got a day off (or most of one anyway). things have been going quite well for me since i've returned to the place no one wants to be.

this includes the afghans; they leave the country when they're able as well. it makes reconstruction extremely difficult when your trained, upper tier work force doesn't want to stick around to create their own businesses and thus jobs. if the current trends continue, i fear afghanistan will be forever doomed to the agrarian state they're now in.

but back to what i was going to talk about.... being home gave me some much needed perspective. the unit survived without me for 3 weeks. i say survived because it clearly didn't fair as well as it would have had i been here. so i'm not critical, but am off great value. this realization has caused me to not be so obsessed with work. there are certain tasks that will still be around to do the next day and don't necessarily require immediate attention. my work might be going a little slower than before due to this, but at least it's getting done faster than if wasn't here at all. i've basically given myself more me time.

for the last week or so i've been using this extra free time to take a combatives class. they basically teach you how to fight. for those of you that are curious about the specifics, they use jiu jitsu for grappling and ground fighting, and muay thai for striking or when you're not right on someone. the class is exhausting, but fun. after 3 hours of intense exertion i find i'm too tired to be angry at anything...like, say the people in my unit that tend to upset me. it's also a lot easier to go to sleep at night...well, when i get over the pain of whatever got hurt. a little pain every now and then isn't so bad though; it reminds you you're still alive.

anyway, the fighting with the perspective have made me quite a bit happier than i was before. any of you that know rather well could probably read between the lines to see i was a bit depressed before. now i'm mostly tired...and sore...which is much better.

well, i've got more class tonight so i'm going to wrap this up and try to enjoy what free time i have. catch you all later.