Starting Over
You wonder sometimes if you can just start your life over. What would you do different? Is it too late? Can I do it? What will my friends think? Am I too old? Will it be any better? Will I screw it up worse and a million other questions that pop up. You start to dream about how you could fix every problem now that you know all about life. You can simply avoid the problems before they even happen.
Probably if you are old enough to read this you know problems and life go hand in hand. If you think starting over will let you avoid the problems you better stay where you are. You will take your problems with you and add more. I know, I have done it several times! Some because I wanted too, some because I had no choice. I’m not qualified to give advice because all I learned is that I don’t know the best way to start over. Luckily I never let not knowing how stop me from doing anything.
The best example of starting over in my family has to be my daughter Susan. She did it with a family of 4 and has made it work. She was working in real estate at Ocracoke, NC. Her husband James was born on Ocracoke and never lived anywhere else. With a 13 year old son and a 7 year old daughter I was sure they would stay on Ocracoke till retirement. With a lot of planning and a lot of guts they left everything they knew and moved the family to Alaska. I can’t imagine a more drastic move without leaving the USA.
But why would anyone want to leave a paradise destination like Ocracoke? It has spectacular beaches, salt water fishing, lots of visitors’ spending money and beauty. While it is wonderful to visit it is hard to stay. Everything has to come and go on the ferry. Being a playground for the rich has made the property values climb above anything working people can afford. If you want anything more than lunch or ice and beer you have to go get it. That takes a day! With only 6-10 children in each grade there just aren’t many things for kids to do on their own.
After they made one visit to Alaska they were committed to changing their lives for the future of their children. They left everything they knew and moved. Taking only a few possessions they sold everything else and bought one way tickets and rode the ferry for the last time. They didn’t have jobs, family for support, vehicles or a home. They did have confidence in their abilities and it was that confidence that made it possible.
When they left they took two friends with them. Both were volunteers that had special skills. When they landed they started the task of finding vehicles and setting up a home in a rental house. Then the volunteers went home and they started the more daunting task of finding a home and jobs. They were uniquely qualified for these task. Susan has worked on computer networks, waitress jobs, real estate agent, rental agent, store owner, and book keeper and Mom. James has more abilities than I can describe but his most impressive is he can design and build anything from a 3 story house to a go cart and likes to work at a pace that scares most people. Ocracoke people seem to shift gears as the seasons change and that mentality probably helped.
Since it was August when they left I was concerned about them going through their first long dark Alaskan winter. When the sun comes up at 10am and sets at 3pm and only climbs slightly above the trees it has to be a different world. But this crew seems to thrive on change and adaptation. The pictures tell the story. Arabella has learned ice skating, Jamie has become a basketball star, Susan was hired by a 24×7 veterinary hospital and then moved to another job with the gas company. Her old job tried to hire her back and the new job gave her a raise before her first day. James used his skills to repair the home they bought at a bargain and now has gone to work with a construction company. The pictures show that a family that use to try to get stuff has changed and now they are trying to do stuff. It has changed everything and they are all thriving!
Now the question is did Alaska bring the change or did the change bring Alaska? I know from talking with many people that have made major changes in life that it always starts with a phrase that is present in every story. It’s only two words but they are important and powerful. The words are “I decided”. It’s that point where you stop dreaming and put your plan into action. That point takes the most courage. You risk losing if you try to change but if you don’t you risk keeping a life you’re not happy with. That might be the biggest disaster of all!