PFSing

First of all, let me explain for those of you who don't know what PFSing is. It was coined (as far as I know) by my pastor back in Missouri, Ron Case. It stands for "Preferred Future Status/State." PFSing occurs when, no matter where you are in life, you feel like you need to be at the some point other than where you are.
About two months ago, I was laying in bed, wide awake, while my husband was sleeping soundly. I don't remember exactly what it was I was thinking about--perhaps it was kids, saving money, vacation, being done with the Army, as these are things that I think about regularly--and it suddenly struck me. I was PFSing pretty bad. None of those things are bad things to think about, but I realized that night that just a month earlier, all I could think about was getting married . . . if ony we were married, etc. etc. And before that, after we got engaged, I just wanted to be in Pennsylvania closer to him. And before that, I just wanted it to be July (when I actually got engaged, though I didn't know it was coming then).
I realize that there's nothing wrong with any of these things, or hoping for and anticipating them. But there's a difference between looking forward to things and wishing they were here now so "everything will be better." It makes me think of the country song, "You're gonna miss this, you're gonna want this back, you're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast. These are some good times, so take a good look around. You may not know it now, but you're gonna miss this."
Since that night, not a lot has changed in my world. Tom's STILL in the army, I'm not pregnant, our financial situation isn't drastically different than it was then, we still haven't gotten to go on a real vacation (at least not together...). But my perspective is a LOT different than it was. I can't say that I've been content every minute since then, but contentness is my goal. Once I diagnosed the problem, I realize so much more that there's no reason to always want to rush into the next stage in life, whatever that may be. You'll probably still even hear me say sometimes that I can't wait to have kids or I would love to be done with the army. And both are true! But I'm no longer living with those things being the goal.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with having goals in life. But if those goals are making you lose perspective and contentment, perhaps it's time to reevaluate. What's wrong with my life right now? Almost nothing. And if I'm focusing on the things that aren't perfect, it's really probably just going to make me miserable along the way. I know it's cliche, but life's too short for that garbage. Life is good.
I've challenged myself recently--when people ask how I am, I try to respond (truthfully) with "Life is good!" It's been a little difficult, though it doesn't sound like it should. There's always something to complain about. It's in my nature to find that/those things. I'm pretty pessimistic at times (shocker, I know...). But when I can smile and say, "Life is good!" and mean it, more often than not I'll get a smile back and a response somewhere along the lines of, "It is, isn't it?" Sometimes I'll get a negative or sarcastic answer, but the more positive I am, the more positive people around me seem to be.
I imagine a lot of this sounds pretty common sense and simplistic to some of you, but these have been some of my ponderings lately. :)