Have you noticed that when something changes, that everything starts changing? When you change jobs, you leave friends behind, your work environment changes, you have to learn a new role and responsibility, and even what you wear to work may change.
A few years ago we had been looking for a new home for six months. We had put five offers on houses and didn't get any of them. We put in offer #6 with the best offer we could manage and expected it would be another failure. To our surprise, it was accepted! Then the reality set in as we had only 3 weeks until the new house closed. In those three weeks we had to rent the home we were in, pack a house that hadn't been moved in 14 years, host a friend's bachelorette and attend her wedding in Mexico, work a full time job, and get ready to move. It was stressful. And once we moved in, so many of the things we were used to were different. All our bills changed, our neighbors were new, our drive to work got harder, and we had to spend weeks finding new places to put all of our things in the new house. It was both physically and emotionally draining.
While it was incredibly stressful, what got me through the process was the excitement of the new house. We were so ready for a new home that the thought of moving into our new home kept me motivated during the long hours planning and packing. We were excited about the bigger space, with room for an Airbnb above the garage. We loved the big open patios on both sides of the house, allowing us more indoor/outdoor space that we didn't have at the old house. Our new home was in a cul-de-sac and I had never realized how wonderful it is to have your own little built in community in your dead end street.
I wouldn't want to repeat those three weeks of moving, but the opportunities that we gained in our new home far outweighed the challenges of getting there. A couple years later when we went through Covid, we couldn't imagine what it would have been like being quarantined in our old home. We even had weekly outdoor gatherings with our new neighbors in the cul-de-sac, which made quarantine so much easier.
The next time you are going through big changes in life, pay attention to what opportunities the change opens up in your life. What are you letting go of? What are you adding to your life? And, as everything is changing, it might be a good opportunity to take care of that thing you've been meaning to do forever, such as cleaning out the back of your closet.
What opportunities does this change offer for you?