About two months ago, Cheri and I moved into a beautiful new home.
It was a tumultuous period, so naturally I figured there must be lessons from this ordinary life experience.
For some time, Cheri has wanted to move out of our old house. I was quite comfortable in that house, and really had no desire to move. I was settled in my comfortable and familiar life and routines. Our town suited me fine. My life was there. Cheri had the house decorated like something out of a magazine. I had put so much in the way of blood, sweat and tears in improvements that I would be leaving a part of myself there. A move would be expensive, and our new mortgage payment would skyrocket.
However, both our parents are getting way up there in age, and we weren’t getting to see them as much as we wanted due to the distance. As well, the prospect of moving to a place that would better suit us as we grow “more mature” seemed like a good idea. We were furthermore concerned about how rough our town was becoming. But the real reason I had no interest in moving was that we had so much “good” stuff accumulated over the years, the thought of trying to downsize, organize, pack and move it all was daunting. We also needed to prepare and sell our house, with the associated burden of timing the sale for a door-to-door move, or finding an interim place to live, until our new home was built.
Regardless, we took the plunge, and we are very happy that we did. It seems like a dream home for us. It all happened quickly between September and Christmas.
We sold, pitched and donated stuff to downsize. Then came sorting, organization and packing. A contract was written on the new house. We prepped the old house and got it sold. There was time for little else. We then lived out of boxes and suitcases in the basement of my in-laws for about two months, while all of our possessions went into storage.
Eventually our new home was ready and we moved-in two days before Christmas. It was crazy. But…the amenities of our new community are amazing. The area is great and located within reach of anything we could want. Our home is absolutely gorgeous and we are so much closer to family. We are now in a wonderful home that will elegantly serve our needs well into our later years. But it required a lot of work and even more courage.
I learned these 8 lessons from this ordinary life experience.
- Appreciate the small things in life and don’t take them for granted. I recall missing the familiar–my own bed, coffee mug and sitting chair.
- Take one thing at a time and it will come together. There was a lot to be done in a short period. Bit-by-bit it all materialized, especially after we got started.
- Establish a plan. Plans close the gap between where you are, and your desired state. You’ll save time in the long run and reduce the stress.
- Change is constant–accept it. And even better, embrace it. We were going to move, it was just a matter of when. It was easier after I made the decision to “change gears.” Being “all in” made the rest of it easier.
- You are capable of more than you think. Whatever faces you may be daunting, but it is usually not as bad as you think.
- Dream big. Big dreams force solutions to big challenges. Your results reflect the size of your challenges.
- Be bold, do it, take the plunge. In decision and action. If you want something that is good for you, it’s easier after you put it in motion.
- You don’t drift to where you want to be in life. You reap what you sow. We invested in our desires, tolerated the turmoil, and took the necessary action.
Thousands of people make moves every day. Why was it a big deal for us? Because it pushed us out of our comfort zone. It is said that the best teacher in life is not experience, but evaluated experience. These are my lessons from this ordinary life experience. From what ordinary life experience can you pull lessons?
Be your best!