Change- Are you afraid of it?

Tonight, I was struck with some inspiration to write a post. It's about taking chances and making BIG changes. I know around my hometown, most things don't change, and the people don't really change either. If you were to leave and come back a year later- everything is pretty much the same. Is there anything wrong with this? Yes, and No. Yes, to the people who are not in the up and up, knowing someone to get/keep the good paying job they have- you have to know somebody to get somewhere here, you are a farmer, or you are like majority of the people who stay in the area and are just getting by working a dead end job. The No is obviously for the ones who do know someone, etc. Good for them.

Anyway, when Allen's home, and we are out and about driving, Allen will make comments about people we don't even know that we see around here in our hometown. You can just see the morale here- it is not good at all. People are either happy with just getting by, getting to take 1 vacation a year to maybe Florida, or Tennessee, and not doing much of anything other than that. Work, wait for weekend, Work. Maybe a trip to Evansville every now and then, but that's pretty much it. Allen will say, they just don't know what they are missing out on. He is not talking about his job and our life though- it's what these people could have. They could move to where a job does pay well, and to somewhere they actually would love to live, instead of just staying in the place they were born and raised like their mom's mom did, and her mom's mom did, and so on.

They settle.... Not wanting to take the risk, or the chance for a good change in their lives.

Now, this doesn't mean that everything is just chocolate and roses everywhere else. Everything has it's ups and downs. Ours just happens to be home time for Allen. BUT, if he stays where he is, he can retire a lot earlier, if he even could living around here. I do get lonely every now and then- even when I'm around family and friends. There just isn't anyone better than my best friend, my husband... well, the kids.. but, I'm here with them, so to me I really miss Allen a lot. It doesn't get easier- sometimes it is not as bad as others on the 2 weeks dragging on, or just me missing him. Some weeks go by so fast, and he is back with us, and everything just runs smooth. But, when he is home with us for that whole week- we actually get to do things together...in Colorado anyway. Here- there is nothing to do here. To me, our time together is so much more meaningful- we don't get stuck in a rut on getting sick of seeing each other. We value our time together, and we have more fun now than we used to when it was just the weekends to get to do stuff together. I know we don't take each other for granted anymore. We look forward to seeing each other, and talking on the phone together. It is hard, but we see the pros of it, and really make the most of it. With him being off for a whole week, we can take trips- not having to wait to use his vacation for the 1 trip of the year thing. Having both kids to my self 24/7 isn't easy either, along with taking care of the house and everything else- it's no picnic. I keep busy. BUT, living like this really does suit us- it isn't for everyone.

Back to where I was going with all of this. Don't be afraid of change. You never know what you are missing out on. Happiness could be just on the other side of that fence, or in our case a couple of state lines. It might be a tough climb to get there- making changes is never easy, but it can really be worth it.. It was for us.