Here's a revelation for a Tuesday July 2 morning. Life is full of unknowns. Shocking to say that, but yes - life is full of unknowns.
However do we love unknowns when there is little to no consequences attached to the unknown. Well, I certainly do. Unknowns with little consequences of said unknowns result in situtations in life that end up being pretty easy and safe. And man, don't we love easy and safe. Not knowing what you're going to have for dinner next Wednesay is certainly an unknown. But, who cares. No one does(really) - because the consequenses attached to it are ... well none. We'll figure it out then.
One of the problems with the fu@king unknowns is the tend to have a negative vibe attached to them. And why is that I ask? Can't unknowns possibly have a positive vibe or chill to them. The answer is of course - a resounding .....yes.
Unfortunately, we do as a human species tend to default to the negative, thus unknowns became bad or at least negative. When in fact the unknown may possibly be positive; good or even great.
But big unknowns are tough and scary. Life changing at times. The words tough and scary unfortunately have that negative vibe lathered all over them. Hard to deny that. But, can't the process of "tough and scary" result in something positive? Isn't childbirth, tough, scary and painful. Well of course it is. But, isn't the result positive and beautiful. Short answer - yes. You end up with the miracle of birth. At least we did.
Big unknowns, those life changing ones should be tough, scary and painful. If they weren't everyone would be making those massive postive and potential wonderful changes and opportunities.. But, we know people don't. They let the boat sail on by, because of the unknowns.
The right thing will always be the right thing. Even if it is smack full of the unknown; even if it going to be tough, scary and potentially painful - the right thing is always and I repeat always the right thing.
Life is full of unknowns - that is just how it is. It's how we see them and knock the crap out of them that counts. Folks say those positive life changing unknowns show up only once and a while. I think the show up all the time. We just don't see them or worse ...want to see them. Big unknowns are scary, tough and painful - simply easier to make up an excuse.
From July 2022 ............
We are on the home stretch and can see the finish line just up ahead.
Checking the calendar, there are only a couple days left until our mover comes Monday to pick up the rest of our meagre belongings. We close here on Tuesday; lock the door behind us and take on the life of homeless wandering folks for about a week or so.
It looks like we need to pack up a few remaining boxes in the kitchen and I guess a few pieces of clothing to wear for the next week. And a MEAN - JUST A FEW BITS OF CLOTHING.
For myself, it hasn't really set in that we're running full steam with the biggest adventure of our lives and starting a brand new and unique chapter in our lives. I'm sure it will at some point, but I think because we both feel that this is the correct/right thing/move for us, there hasn't been any anxiety or trepidation throughout the process.
As we both feel deep in our hearts/souls that this is the right thing, why would there be any anxiety or fear?
Last night(Thursday), we had a "see you later and when are you coming to visit us" dinner with a close couple we've known for years. During our after-dinner chat under a gazebo on their deck, Mike and Joey commented how much they admired us for our courage and bravery to uproot ourselves and move on to write a new chapter in our lives.
It didn't really hit me last night that Lynn and I are overly courageous and/or brave in what we're undertaking. But, as the past 10 hours or so have slipped by, I think; in fact, I know we're courageous and brave. Doing the right thing isn't always easy, but it is ALWAYS THE RIGHT THING. In fact, doing the right thing more often than not takes a cupful of courage and a sprinkling of bravery to get it done.
Everyone is different and everyone/family has their own unique family dynamic and situations that are well...unique to their family.
Now, having said that over the past few months, I've chatted with a few folks about our trek east. And you'd be surprised by the number of people(although a few is not a massive statistical sample) who mentioned in the course of our "chitty chat chat" that they would love to sell and move here or sell and move there, but........ here comes the kicker.........they were afraid/scared/terrified.
Afraid/scared/terrified of what I would often reply. And 9 times out of 10 their answer hovered around nothing specific...but more of the "well - what if..." or "once we get our ducks lined up" or "I'd love to, but my spouse.." It was never ANYTHING SPECIFIC. Excuses - nothing but excuses.
I did hear the "but we got grandchildren" reason a few times. And I get that. Although they do have these things now called airplanes, cars and video chat stuff. But, nevertheless, I get the whole grandchildren thing -sort of.
Also heard on occasion, that my spouse has this job...."he/she is so important ....he/she can't leave it." Right - what a load of bullshit.
Sorry, don't buy that one. Are you living to work or working to live? Not to sound too "negative or the sour grape thing" here, but if you work for someone/company the bottom line is you're simply a number. After typing that, it does have a slight "sour grape" flavour to it, but you get the idea. The harsh reality is that if you work for someone/company - you are just a line entry in the accounting books. You can be here today and gone later in the same day. That is the reality.
Our friend Mike worked 25+ years as a provincial corrections officer. He mentioned during the evening that, often in his career, higher-ranking staff above him would try quite forcefully to encourage him to apply for positions higher up the ladder so to speak, so that he could advance his career.
His philosophy as he told his superiors, was simply this. He worked to live; to live the life he and Joey wanted. Not living to work. His career in corrections was simply a means to an end.
Anyhow, I've seemed to have gone off a short tangent here.
Making big, life-changing changes...like heading off to the other side of the country does take courage.
It does require you to have a huge set of "nards."
There have been and continue to be(as I'm sure we'll encounter over the next days, weeks, and months) massive unknowns. But, that's okay.
Here is a truth that you can take to the grave...."You will never get your ducks lined up." You may think you will or that once you do get the little feathery darlings lined up.....off we go. But, even "if you do" inevitably one of the little cute fu@kers will scurry off and when you reach out to snag him/her ... the rest make a run for it. And you're back to square one again.
The stark reality is, the "ducks lined up thing" is nothing more than a cute phrase that is often plastered on some inspirational photo of ducks lined up.
Life is full of unknowns, we all know that. So what? Our lives can also be full of "we should have done that" or "we could have done that" or "why didn't we....."
You don't want to wake up dead one day and say, "We should have done that" or "We could have done that" or "Why didn't we....."
Regardless of what it is...... trust your gut and if it is the "right thing" it will be the "right thing."
--as always with love--
--- get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself ---
No comments:
Post a Comment