New Year-New Opportunities

  In October of 2008 we were looking at the possibility of moving to Calgary, Alberta due to a job offer that Jay had there. It was so exciting to me; the idea of moving to and living in another country. A lot of folks had misgivings. You know, the main objection people always came up with was how cold Canada is. I guess it is cold sometimes. But I bet it's warm in summer, just like it is here. (Why do people always focus on the negatives?) Anyway, that whole thing fell through because the Canadian government told the company that had offered Jay the job that they must try harder to find a Canadian citizen for the position due to the economy. (Imagine that, a government that cares more about employing it's own citizens first rather than hiring outsiders.)

  The whole incident taught me something, though. It is not always obvious when you are faced with choices about your future what the next steps are going to be. It is always advisable that you allow room in your thoughts and considerations that something beyond what you presently know as options may present itself. For instance, if I am looking for employment, why do I limit myself to where I currently live to look for work? Why only look for a job within, say, 25 mile radius of here? Why not broaden my horizon and look beyond? Why not entertain the idea of moving to another state, or maybe even another country?

   See, we limit ourselves by our own thinking. Or maybe we just are not thinking. Maybe we also limit ourselves by fear of the unknown. We are comfortable with {here}. We know {here}. We know the ins and outs. We know the ups and downs. {Here}is close to our family, our friends, even our neighbors. We like the weather {here}.  We don't mind putting up with all the negatives of {here}, because, hey, at least we know what our worst case scenario would be {here}.

  We could broaden our scope a little, but not much. Maybe we could move. Yeah. Maybe we could go south. Like, I don't know, maybe as far south as Indianapolis.

    You see what I'm saying? I'm not just talking about a job. I'm not just talking about where you live. I am really talking about life. Why do we limit ourselves so much? We live in an age when you can learn simply volumes about all kinds of things because of the internet. You can thorougly research something on the internet, and in all of that research you can expand your enjoyment of life. But just learning about something is not where the change comes in. You have to choose what you will do about the information.
In order for there to be change, you have to do something you haven't done before, maybe in a place where you haven't done it before.

   So it is 2011. A new year. It is always the time people think about changing their lives. Indeed, it is my impetus for writing this blog. I just want to challenge you to do something different this year. There are all kinds of opportunities that we all pass up every day. It could be as small as saying something to someone you may see every day but never take the time to just say "Hi" to them. (You know, like maybe the postal person. Do you even know their name?) Make a new friend. Go to a new place. Develop a new attitude. Here's something; eat some food that you have never eaten before.

   Whatever you do with the opportunities that come your way this year, I hope you will Live Well!