Yesterday was stressor #3! But, that wasn’t good enough for us, so we moved it to a 1.5. We felt, “Why not?” Instead of just moving one daughter, we decided to move two to two new locations, well actually they decided, we just ‘parented.’ Not only did we move two daughters we threw in two ferry crossings all within 19 hours, which seems common these days…the nineteen hour part.
Moving from one home to another is considered one of the top five stressors in our North American life. Healthstatus dot com says, “It may be a happy occasion, but it is still a disruption of your routine. And any disruption of your routine causes stress.”
It occurs to me, we don’t want disturbance, that’s why we don’t want to change. The fear that we imagine will be keeps us from moving in our thoughts our attitudes. “It’s easier just to maintain,” we reason. “Don’t rock the boat; I’ve lived this way too long.” Shame. (British/South African for, ‘that’s too bad.’)
When did we start hardening up? When did we become crusty? We changed all the time when we were kids. Now we need some catastrophic event to move us.
Why not turn our faces into the wind and begin to embrace the adventure? Let’s not wait to be moved by some major upset. Let’s decide ourselves. Let’s embrace the discomfort, the unexpected, the mystery.
Pull out all the stops, jump in with both feet, seize the day, taste my metaphor soup and change!
Oh, one more thing. You actually have to move to make this happen.
There were no blow-outs, no fracturing of relationships, no forever regrets; just four tired people. Change can happen. It can happen well.
You Don’t Have To Live; You Get To!
