On fleeing a life of crisis

I fled a life-in-crisis in 2020.

It sounds so dramatic, but it was the easiest thing to do in the world. See, when you're striving for a vision of your life, and all you end up grasping is relentless despair, it is easy to do the outrageous thing… and move to the frigid prairies. 

Bet you didn’t think that was where I was going with this.

Turns out, a house is a really important thing to have. To own. If all else fails, at least you have shelter. I had had my third child, and after mat leave I decided to go back to work as a part time contractor. I had two pretty good gigs. But we were renting and my husband went through two jobs back to back that both imploded on him (a story for another time), causing us both to suffer a deep depression, knowing our vision of owning a home and some land was getting further and further from us… 

We had been looking to buy a home on the west coast for a year, and within the first six months prices went up 40%... We stretched every financial avenue we had to make something work, but even then the bidding wars made it impossible to compete and eventually it became clear that the dream was officially gone. 

Our rock bottom came when our landlord informed us that he was selling our home and we had to move (rent had also gone up tremendously). That news shattered the paradigm altogether.

Sometimes desperation is the catalyst for a much needed change. It was the push we needed to flee our too-busy, bootstrapped life in a land that no longer served us, and rework the vision of our life that put REAL PRIORITIES at the top of the to-do list. And once the road was re-mapped, it was the easiest thing to do.

Within 6 weeks we took our down payment and bought a house on the prairies, sight unseen, in cash. The immediate freedom we felt was overwhelming. The vision we had was restored. Without a mortgage to pay, work and income wasn’t the be all and the end all. Suddenly, we had TIME and we had CHOICE. We felt like pioneers, striking out to a better land (and turns out it really is a beautiful, community-centric, simple place that’s perfect for raising a bunch of kids!).

If you’ve been laid off or are just all out DONE with spending all your energy on a hamster wheel… maybe it’s time for a paradigm shift. What do you need to do to get back on track and restore your time, your freedom, and the vision you have for your life?

Ever thought of becoming a contractor, coach or consultant? I’d love to help you build a vision for your life that prioritizes time and life outside of work.