Change

Change is opportunity.  Change is the only constant.  Change is difficult and sometimes painful.  Change can be terrifying.  Boy have the last 4 months been full of all of these things!

For me, personally, I am at the end of a series of changes in a short period of time that has empowered me, challenged me, and yes, even terrified me.  I am thrilled to be getting to the last steps of this current change, but not ever naïve enough to think that once this change is “settled” that others will not follow behind.  But as always, I remain positive, powerful and forward in my focus on the potential that this latest change will bring for me and my family.

You see, we just arrived at our new home in Connecticut just about a week ago, and we complete the sale of our former home in North Carolina at the end of this week, assuming all goes as planned (wow, that’s a concept!!)  When I say we arrived, we actually made our way to our new home in an 800 mile journey over several days in our cozy camping trailer that we acquired only two months ago.  And we packed it to the gills with the items we could not fit into the moving van we hired, or the POD we loaded before that.

It was a month or so of packing and sorting through our things before that, conjuring up all sorts of feelings and emotions of our move to North Carolina about 4 years ago, and our daughters in their independent lives away from us.  But now, we are here to be closer again to family.  Unfortunately, with the pandemic we are all being careful about seeing each other and distancing, so that is a big stressful change as well.

The camper came into our lives in May as my wife’s school year came to an end on a remote basis, and we knew we had to get to Connecticut somehow safely to look for a new home, as our North Carolina home suddenly received offers when the state allowed in person walkthroughs in early May.   A two-week 1,700 mile whirlwind trip during the weeks before and after Memorial day allowed us to have a wonderful, exciting and often challenging adventure, but primarily we found a great home in the great neighborhood we desired.  Along the journey we discovered regular campgrounds as well as wineries and vineyards we could stay in overnight. 

The decision to put our house up for sale in March was one we made to “see what happens” on learning my previous position was being eliminated at the end of March after 34 years with my company.  Just as we listed, the lockdown days of the pandemic began.  We listed anyway and were seeing things in real estate continuing to move in a remote/virtual world.  While there was a tremendous amount of on-line interest, nothing happened on the house for months, casting many doubts on our next steps and opportunities.  The mounting impact of the virus on our families and on our ability to see people and to travel, was a continuous and stressful challenge, which is partly why we decided on the camper.

One of the major advantages of the camper has been the ability to “visit” my almost 98 year old Mom twice now, by way of a window-wave drive-by from the parking lot outside of her 4th floor apartment.  She is safely inside a carefully controlled Independent living apartment in NJ, and has spent months without in-person visitors or dining room meals.  Luckily, that is now beginning to open up slightly for her.

The transition at work from my previous position to my full-time coaching business was not anything like I planned it, as the shutdowns shifted everything to remote.  A most prized going away celebration had been scheduled for St. Patrick’s day, the day the lockdowns officially started.   While the last weeks of my sendoff and first weeks of my business kick off were less connected than I imagined, it allowed us all to find new and virtual ways to link up.

On New Year’s day 2020 as we helped my oldest daughter move “back east” from 6 years in Idaho, we looked forward to exciting new things ahead for all of us.  We made plans for an August trip to Acadia in Maine with great hope and anticipation.  What we had no idea about was how much would be disrupted in March to impact all of that.  As always though, with new changes come new challenges and unforeseen opportunities.  I am glad we are coming to “the end” of this particular phase of change for us and the exciting new potential that lies ahead.

What change and opportunity are you facing right now, right here, today?