Additionally, I feel like everyone else thinks I don't belong. My Army friends are from so many different places themselves that none of us truly belong. My work friends are from the South and are my best ambassadors to this new experience, but they recognize my time there as temporary. My friends from Chicago don't refer to me as part of our home life. Nobody thinks I belong. I'm in emotional limbo.
"What you think of me is none of my business." - Ellen DeGeneres.
It doesn't matter what people THINK. People once thought that the earth was flat! That information is irrelevant now. What business is it of mine if someone thinks the way I live my life isn't suited for Oklahoma? What business is it of mine that people think my politics don't match those of my old or those of my new surroundings? What business is it of mine what my roommates parents, my old classmates, or my ex friends think of me?
The opinions that matter first and foremost are my own. Some days, I do feel like I don't belong anywhere. But those are the days I have to stop and think, "Is this a response to my surroundings? If not, is this a response to some anxiety I am having about the day?" Most of the time, those feelings aren't true. And when they are, I recognize the need to be proactive. Sometimes when I'm in Oklahoma, I will need to find or do something that makes me feel like I'm at home. Or if I'm in Illinois, I need to find or do something that reminds me of my Army life. The truth of the matter is that for the next few years, I will constantly have one foot in the Army with my soldier and one foot back in my hometown. So what people THINK about that... well... it's none of my business because the only place I belong is with my best friend and life partner.