You can ReFLocate in Your Mind

By Kelly Dean

It isn’t absolutely necessary to relocate to Florida in the physical sense. Ideally, yes, it would be great to have you move here, especially if you add to the Sunshine State’s eclectic flavor. We can always use more exciting people. That said, timing, family, job responsibilities and fate create environments where moving elsewhere simply isn’t feasible.

You must simply relocate in your mind – or find a happy place mentally that represents the same thing. If the warmth is your thing, heck, southern Texas has similar weather and some nice beaches too. California has beaches and is adjacent to Mexico, which has great beaches too. But warmth and beaches are not everyone’s thing.

My son doesn’t want to stay in Florida when he graduates college. He wants to explore the world. He wants to take his vision and run with it. I support him wholeheartedly. His vision is different from mine, but it’s his life. Besides, he’s been here done that. I was the same way about my stomping grounds in the Midwest. My son’s happy place is in the Pacific Northwest, or even Europe – it could change, of course. His vision is his own and no one can take that from him. His future is his own and no one can take that from him either.

I mention all this because when you are on the fence about dropping everything to move someplace like Florida, or Scandinavia or the Orient, it isn’t absolutely necessary to do it physically. You can do it in your mind, because that is the stuff that dreams are made of, to use a cliché. It’s not so much the physical act of moving as it is the journey. It’s having a goal. If the timing is right, it can happen.

To prove this, just think about the last time your boss was giving you a hard time about a budget or some work project that was behind schedule. To cope, you simply moved your mind to a different place. You simply said no to the stress and thought of your vision. It can be a lifesaver. The whole premise of “It’s a Wonderful Life” centers on this theme. Who doesn’t love that movie?

For many, this vision is Florida. For some, it’s the Pacific Northwest or Europe. It doesn’t matter if you are able to make it happen as much as you are continuing to dream about it daily. If you get to capture a nugget of that dream on vacation each year, that’s fine too. Who’s to tell you what life to lead? If that dream becomes a reality, you get the benefit of knowing that you made that happen. If not, you get the satisfaction of knowing you accomplished something else instead.

There is a time and place for everything.