It’s a simple question with a complex answer. I’ll go first. My parents moved to new Jersey when I was five. I eventually went to college in New York and finally moved away after my mother died. My father had already been up in Seattle with a new family he started when he divorced her years prior. So, other than a few friends. I had no family keeping me there anymore. I suspect that most people are where they are because of: friends, family, their job, they like it, and it’s familiar. But, if they are like I was, they where there because of circumstance.
Yet, as we age and can choose the place to live, we are reluctant to change. Even with horrible weather, crowded malls, awful traffic, or rural surroundings, we stick with what we know. I don’t always understand why a person in Buffalo would put up with yards of snowfall year after year. Or someone in southern Florida watching for the next hurricane? Or the Midwesterner awaiting a slew of tornadoes?
I am not totally ignorant and realize the value of friends and family around you. But weather can be a contributing negative factor. Seattlites have constant rain or clouds, much like Londoners and that seems rather depressing. But people with good weather can be depressed as well. Many times, people prefer the suburbs or rural areas to the big cities. But they give up job opportunities, better shopping, and more choices for that freedom. Conversely, large cities have more crime and higher taxes. So where’s the benefit?
The point is that, rather than complaining about your particular plight, why not get up and go? Your friends and relatives, if they really love you, will understand. They can always come for a visit and the phone still works just about everywhere, nowadays. If you are fed up with shoveling snow four months a year or constant rainfall, then move. If the traffic and crowds drive you crazy, move. If the small town has nothing of interest, then move. Take a vacation in an area you like, check out the housing and job situation and spend time in the local stores and talk to the people that live there. They will probably be honest with you.
But, hanging around a place that your parents moved to 30 years ago is no reason to continue going through the motions of enjoying your life. Sure, Hawaii is beautiful and expensive, but if you want to live on an island, you could do worse. If you love the idea of wide open spaces, Billings, Montana is calling your name. If the excitement of New York is luring you there, spend a week in Midtown and check it out. Getting a bite of the Big Apple might be your invitation to success. But get a move on because time is sweeping by and you’re not getting any younger. In fact, maybe it’s your time for a new adventure and a new life.
Jeffrey Hauser was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years.
He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master's Degree in teaching. He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. He has authored 6 books and a novel, "Pursuit of the
Phoenix." His latest book is, "Inside the Yellow Pages" which can be seen at his website, http://www.poweradbook.com and he is currently the Marketing Director for http://www.thenurseschoice.com a Health Information and Doctor Referral site.
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