Make the Move!

If you’ve been wanting a sign, here it is : MAKE THE MOVE!

If you know me personally, or have been a reader of my blog, you know I relocated from Florida to Connecticut a few months after I graduated college. Aside from my little 6-month recap, I haven’t given any update since! Can you believe I moved THREE YEARS AGO?!?! On one hand I feel like I’ve been here forever, and on the other hand I feel like I just moved. So much has happened since I moved up north, and I can honestly say this was the best decision I ever made.

Honestly, when I was getting ready to move and officially did, I didn’t realize or think it was that big of a deal. I mean that in the sense that it was huge for me personally, but not in the “OMG you are CRAZY!” kind of big deal. Apparently, it is not common for people to just up and leave the place they lived for 22 years without any family or friends to go with them. Surprisingly, that was news to me. After getting past all the “oh, did you move up here for a boy?” or the “what school are you going to up here?” and the “this place is great for families!”, I finally got the “you moved here from FLORIDA?!” and the “wow! You moved all by yourself? I could never!” and the “Wow that’s pretty impressive, good for you!” and the “GIRL YOU ARE CRAZY!” (thanks Gina 😉 )

For most of my life, I knew I eventually wanted to live outside of Florida. I wanted to go to college out of state, but unfortunately that wasn’t in my plans. When I started looking into New England specifically after graduating, it only made sense. Despite originally thinking I would end up in Massachusetts, life brought me to Connecticut. Sometimes we don’t always understand why things happen the way they do, but I will always believe what’s meant to be will always be.

Before I left Florida, I was super anxious. I was questioning if I would be successful. Wondering if/how much my family and friends would miss me. Thinking this could possibly be my biggest mistake. Hoping I wouldn’t fail and end up sleeping in my car struggling. I knew I had family “close by” if something were to happen and I absolutely needed it, and while that did give me some comfort, I was really hoping everything would just work out.

Three years later, and I know this was meant to be. Everything that happened prior to my decision to move: losing my college best friends, declining an HR job at a country club in my college town, moving back home for a month, finding out the job I’d been interviewing with for months essentially forgot who I was, and still deciding to make a visit up north with the money I had saved for the post-grad job search needed to happen. Quite literally if one thing had happened differently, I’d truly be living a completely different life. I’m humbled to know I never have to find out what life that may have been.

I moved to Connecticut, 1200+ miles away from my home for 22 years, and wished for the best. What I got was so much more. In three years, I proved to myself I could live on my own and fully financially support myself, found out I was good at sales, made best friends with coworkers and neighbors, got my first official professional job, and probably my favorite thing of all: fell in love. Gross, I know.

If there’s anything you can take away from all of this, it’s to trust yourself. You have to get comfortable being uncomfortable, because there’s no room for change in comfortability. You can never find out what you’re capable of if you never give yourself the chance, and you aren’t giving yourself the chance by doing what you’ve always done. One decision could, quite literally, change your whole life. I know it did for me.

So if you needed a sign, here is it. Just do it.

You CAN do it.