I Like My "Boring"-ness

Currently, as a teenage girl living in the suburban Midwest, my life is stereotypically boring. I live in what one may argue is a copy-and-paste suburban house, go to my local public high school, play a sport, and am part of the school musical. My daily routine doesn’t really vary; besides the occasional plans with my friends and family vacations, my life is calmly repetitive.  

If you look at the definition of boredom itself, then my current situation can undoubtedly be deemed as boring. Yet, I love my arguable monotony, and I don’t think I’d change it for the world. “Boring” has a multitude of synonyms -- repetitive, monotonous, tedious, dull -- and is a word more often used with negative connotations than not. But personally, the synonym I find to be most accurate is consistency, specifically since the greater portion of my life so far has been anything but that.  

Most military kids know exactly what I mean when I say that childhood, at times, was the absolute epitome of chaos. From constantly moving across continents at practically the drop of a hat to dealing with the ever-present blanket of stress upon my parents, military life has been anything but regular. Even as a kid, I had to know how to adjust when I was thrown off course, adapting to anything and making friends as quickly as I could, all while staying out of the adult-issues.

Everyone has a different perception of their own childhood, especially when memories get hazy, and you look retrospectively. But without fail, the uniqueness of military life always made sure that my day was interesting, whether these curveballs were good, bad, or too complicated to categorize. 

As much as I like to take a dig at the military-induced inconsistencies and annoyances that made being a kid so uncharacteristically difficult at times, it's true that the constant chaos of it all never failed to keep me entertained. Sure, having language barriers and parents with ever-changing schedules wasn’t exactly fun, but seeing a helicopter land 200 feet from my house is a memory I’ll never forget. Even though I had to move continents thrice within one year, I got the privilege to travel to more countries by age ten than most people reach in their entire lives.

Overall, my point is that the mayhem certainly allowed me to adopt an appreciation for routine that I may not have found otherwise. I can confidently say that while I absolutely adore my travels and memories, most of which I possess solely due to the military, each day I live now is so much easier to get through, and it feels practically like a vacation from a life full of uncertainty and disorganization.

From such a young age, I've been able to learn both the drawbacks and benefits of different types of lifestyles. While I don't think of myself as carrying a preference over any of the different eras of my existence, I do have to say that right now, being boring is pretty nice.