By Barbara Brady
Special to Relocation.com
In the best case scenario, living someplace new can open your mind and world, elicit new confidence, humor and a sense of adventure, and make you feel freer and more alive.
In the worst case, relocation can be a good learning experience...
But whether moving someplace new is your decision or not, it IS your decision how you embrace it and make it be whatever you choose.
Do you have mixed feelings about moving to a new place? If so, here are 12 key gifts of relocating that can help you re-frame your move into a positive experience:
1. Reinventing yourself. If you live in the town where you grew up, your childhood friends and family will see you the same way at age 35 as they did at 15. The theme "I know who you are" is played out. When relocating, Bashful Bruce can now become Bruce the Bold. Serious Sara can be Silly Sara.
2. Letting go of old patterns. When you move to a new place, you can break bad habits more easily because you are forced to think and live in fresh and new ways.
3. Making wonderful new friends. The more places you live and travel, the more friends you can have spread around the country or world, which broadens your perspective. What a gift! Retirees I know spend three months a year with various friends in Florida, New York and Paris.
4. Keeping your brain fresh. Let's face it, when you know a place inside out, your brain can go on auto pilot. In a new place your brain is called upon to learn and be resourceful.
5. Experiencing a new culture. Whether you're thinking of moving from Southern California to the Georgia Mountains, or from New England to Amsterdam, you will experience norms and values that may be radically different from yours, and expand your mind.
6. Trying new things. When I lived in Switzerland for five months in college I got to practice French, travel around Europe by train, and eat caramel yogurt; in Japan I learned how to make sushi and sing Karaoke; in San Francisco, I rode on cable cars, motorcycles, and learned yoga and massage.
7. Experiencing different aspects of yourself. In Southern California my laughing, playful side came out; in Switzerland I was a risk-taker and gained confidence after traveling alone; in Asheville, North Carolina, where I live now, I feel deeply connected and expressive.
8. Getting clear on what's important in your life -- and what's not. From Switzerland I learned that "meals should be an experience." In San Francisco, "community is important." And in Japan, "Having a car is not that important."
9. Finding a better fit. After I realized I was an intuitive feeler who was living in the more sensing, thinking city of Boston, I moved to San Francisco where I met people who were more like me. If you have kids, moving from the more urban city to a smaller town might be a better fit.
10. Getting humbled and appreciating more. – What are you taking for granted where you're currently living? After Japan, I really appreciated Western style toilets, non-smoking restaurants, and being able to find good wine easily.
11. Becoming more like ‘water' – adaptable, flexible and tolerant. This lowers stress for you and the people around you, and adds more peace in the world. Your children can become more "ambassador-like" citizens.
12. You can always leave! You have nothing to lose. But if you don't go, you may always wonder, "What if?"
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-- Mark Twain
Your Next Move:
Barbara Brady is a Life Transition Coach and author of the book Make the Right Move Now: Your Personal Relocation Guide: http://snipurl.com/1k21n designed to help people discover and move to their ideal location. Visit her website at: www.mycoachbarbara.com