Coming from a person that has been through two deployments due to my boyfriend being in the Army National Guard, having a support system built around me is something I hold very dear. I have learned that their are people I can count on and also activities I can do to help alleviate stress not only during deployment, but also through non-deployment periods as well. I chose to look at the three things in my life that I currently rely on for support everyday.
The first support system that I have on a daily basis is my boyfriend. He supports me through any and all things and is always there to listen or help me really put the important things into perspective.
My co-workers are another support system I see on a daily basis. I feel very lucky to work for a great organization and I have a few close co-workers at work that I can share pretty much anything with.
The last support system I use on a daily basis is exercise or some kind of physical activity. I've always been an active person and currently I play indoor and sand volleyball, slowpitch softball and I've taken up running in hopes of completing a half-marathon in the very near future. My boyfriend is very active as well and when I stop to think about it, a lot of our life involves around being able to take advantage of being physically active. We've been very fortunate to be able to go backpacking in Europe the last two years and traveling is something we plan on continuing doing in the future, so being physically able to do that is extremely important to me. Without these three things (and my family and close friends, who I don't always see everyday, but very much still rely on), my life would be completely different. I'm not sure that I would know how to function without one of these three things.
The challenge I chose to imagine is not being able to walk and becoming wheelchair bound. I would need all of my supports even more. I would probably have to look into other support systems as well. My boyfriend would possibly have to become partially my caregiver as well, since our home isn't wheelchair accessible. I know that he would do anything he could for me though. As far as work, I feel like they would support me any way they could and our work is wheelchair accessible. I'm not sure how well I would be able to do at my job though because I move around frequently and that may be difficult in a wheelchair. My family and my close friends will forever support me, so I don't worry about losing their support. I think the area of my life that I would struggle most with is that I wouldn't be able to be physically active like I have been and do all of the things I enjoy doing so much. For a large part of my life I have always defined myself by my physical ability, playing sports, running races, etc. and losing that would be very challenging and unknown for me. I'm not sure how I would handle that and it is scary to think about. It really makes me realize how lucky I am that I get to do these things everyday. Everyone needs supports in their lives and a huge support for me would be gone.
