Why not just move to…

The following is an article written by an amazing woman named Kelly Davison.  She made a drastic change in her life on the soul reasoning that it felt right to do so.  This kind of Gnothi Seauton is so amazing to me that I had to repost her story (with permission, of course) for all of you to read.  I hope this has as much of an impact on you as it did on me!

(From Kelly Davison’s website)

Why Not Just Move to Greece?
By Kelly Davison

Have you ever wondered if you could possibly bear what you are doing now for another 10 years? How about 20 years?
Have you ever sat down in your cubicle at work and couldn’t bring yourself to turn the computer on to do another day’s work?

Have you ever seen a picture of a place completely foreign to you that seemed a perfect fit?

Have you found a special object whose simple presence and natural beauty encourages you to speak the truth? 

If so, you may have something to gain by reading on. Just relax and let your eyes and soul carry you through this site and small journey into my life, and perhaps, yours. I recommend you print out this site before reading it, turn off your computer, place that special object close to you, and pull out the photo of that far away place. Then go ahead, hold this story in your hands, and dive in.

There are many things that surround us which discourage us from ever truly living the life we would consider the most rewarding. My mission in the next few pages is to tell you what it’s like to shed those things that hold you back. I want to show you how to reach for those daydreams that keep you awake at night. I would like to lead you to a new life, the ideal one for you with which you truly identify. I want to tell you what it’s like to risk everything you have for a life in which nothing is hidden; nothing is out of your reach, or wrong. Can you imagine such an existence for yourself?

My message to you is this: you are not a robot or a loser. You are waiting for yourself to surrender to the things that genuinely make you happy.  Stop waiting. You WILL land on your feet, straight up, and you may even FLOAT! I promise you that you will be scared, but more than scared, you will be incredibly happy and wildly proud. Are you now? Are you so balanced? Are you so open? So comfortable? So ready? Certain? FREE? 

What you will read now is a story of my transformation from one lifestyle to another, and when I say another, I mean way the hell over in “other” land! As you read these episodes think mostly of yourself and perhaps of the many things that we might have in common. You are as much a part of the story as I am. Though I may be in a new place now, I was where you are today. I am sure you can find yourself in this story somewhere! Come with me into my story. I will tell you why and how I turned my life around!

The beginning is always difficult to locate. I will start with the first major mistake I made in my more accountable adult years. I married at 22 years old, five months pregnant, to the boy who’d been in and out of my life for the previous five years. We were as poor as dirt, not that I minded too much. I learned that there is a real connection created with the world when your needs are not so eccentric, a connection I still cherish today. I also learned that people grow and change at different rates and not always in the same direction. I had pushed my husband into a new world and lifestyle. Although, he allowed me to introduce him to it, when I was ready to step out and test my strength in the world, it was obvious he wasn’t. He couldn’t. He had stretched as far as he was willing to go. 

There were other issues leading to the dissolution of our marriage. He used marijuana and defended it emphatically. I didn’t. His new projects always lay unfinished and his revolving employment and lack of punctuality were tiring. Still, during the marriage, I defended all of this. I tried skillfully to help others see “our” vision and patch up any inconveniences “we” caused.

I was not comfortable. These were not my standards. I was embarrassed. Things weren’t able to progress in the right direction, or any direction, for that matter. I wanted to find a place that I could grow instead of putting so much effort into cleaning up our messes. This was my first turning point. I realized that only I had the dominion over my life. I could and should change things. I could go where I belonged. So, two years after I made that first mistake, I fixed it.

During the next three and a half years, I discovered more secrets that helped me get to where I am today. At the time of the divorce, my daughter was two years old. I was forced to work full-time to support our necessities. Without a college degree, the only “decent” jobs I could find that yielded enough money were in sales. I sold everything: cars, real estate, beverages, and education. With all the pressure and competition, however, it wasn’t long before I started not answering my phone and retreating from the world in a confound depression. Of course, I always defended my jobs to my family and friends. It was good money and I got to shake a lot of hands, not to mention the opportunities! Oh boy, the endless money making opportunities that were so abundant and so completely WRONG for me. I spiraled further down, heavy with self-criticism, shame, emptiness, and endless questions. Why? Was this how it had to be? Are ANY of my true dreams PRACTICAL enough to follow? No one seemed to get it! My colleagues were like robots to me. I missed my friends, but I was too lost to try and share how I was feeling. Worse yet, I was self-destructive. Why? I don’t know exactly. Maybe it was the dissatisfaction I had from all areas of my life that found another way to express itself. I was unimpressed and disgusted with everything around me including myself. There are so many things to do with one’s life. Why did I feel so stuck? Have you felt this way? Do you now?

I began to read a million self-help type books. Today’s the Day, Feeling Good, The Meaning of Life, God on a Harley, to name a few, and even Sylvia Brown’s books on astrology. They helped for a while. I liked them. Then I decided to make another change.

I started running regularly to release the stress and pressure I had bottled up. I found a new job with a university and started taking night classes to finish the degree I had started prior to my pregnancy. I was determined to graduate, not in the two years it would have normally taken me, but in one! The whole time I kept a few special things around me in my little gray cubicle at work: a picture of a Greek island, a small ceramic Greek boat, and photos of my daughter. These are the things that drew me to truth when I looked at them. I saw in them the harmony that I longed for. 

I acquired a nice car, home, and job. Unfortunately, they were not as fulfilling as society promised. In fact, I was still miserable and so was my daughter, Lucy. I had no time to invest in our relationship. My daughter was hooked on cartoons and junk food.

She was traveling from relative to relative to help me manage my time between long workdays and night school. I would interrupt the ritual of passing her around for a couple of nights just to maintain “motherhood” status. I was always exhausted and my daughter was confused. 

After graduation, I took a long awaited vacation to Greece. I had spent the last 3 years teaching myself Greek and dreaming about this trip. It seemed I had always been waiting for the best time to do go there. It finally came! When I arrived in Athens, I felt this unleashing energy and overwhelming appreciation for life. I smiled all day at everyone “just because”. My time in Greece flowed through all of my senses; I lived, for a brief time, the life I had always coveted!

When I came back, nothing was the same. You don’t know how many times I heard, “Good thing you went! That was a once in a lifetime trip!” Those comments bothered me. I would stare at them blankly and try to think of all the reasons they called it “once in a lifetime”. They either didn’t know me very well or assumed too much. I knew then what I had to do. I returned to work and took my pictures of Greece off my blinding, gray cubicle walls. I took the photos of my daughter and my little boat. I walked over to my boss and shook her hand. I quit that day. I had decided to move to Greece.

The day we sold all of our belongings, I realized how little they actually meant to me. Moving to Greece was all I’d ever wanted. Since my adolescence, I had read books on its history, participated in local Greek festivals, made Greek friends, and studied the language. I was drawn to the lifestyle and environment. I saw strength, wit, intellect, simplicity, pride, and unrivaled beauty in all I discovered about Greece and the Greeks.

The things I had acquired to create a “normal” life and status in the U.S. were utterly worthless to me. Ridding myself of them was the most freeing and self-rewarding thing I’ve ever done! Thirty days later, with passports in hand, I took my daughter out of her first grade class and we got on a plane with four suitcases to our name. It was strange to leave all I’d accomplished in the U.S., especially after all that hard work and turmoil we had gone through together to gain the things I was pressured to have. I was putting my daughter and myself at risk again, back on the starting line again, and in a new country. But, as I tightened our seatbelts, I looked at my daughter, and the harmony was there. This time, although I was scared and unsure of where I was going exactly, I knew I was going in the right direction!

Do you feel you are going the right direction for you? Can you ever manage to catch up to that dream you have been so busy trying to follow?

We came to Athens and stayed at the only hotel I could remember. My daughter and I explored the city day and night on foot. It was fantastic! I searched the classifieds for an apartment and scouted the area for elementary schools. After one month, Lucy was enrolled in a Greek public school and we had rented a quaint and cheery apartment in the nearby neighborhood. 

Still, managing our new life wasn’t always easy. I remember one day that we were taking the bus home from the supermarket. We clumsily loaded on nine bags of heavy groceries. There were no seats available. We found a place to hang on and the bus jerked into gear. I wondered at that moment if it was smart in giving up everything we had in America. But then something reassured me that I had done the right thing. Perhaps, it was the way my daughter was still smiling at me and how suddenly my fingers didn’t seem to mind the heaviness of the bags. I watched the city float by, squeezed between a busload of strangers of all shapes, sizes, and smells, and I was so proud to be here!

It took four more months to find the “right” job, but I did! I took a position with the University of La Verne, Athens Campus. I am now a counselor for American exchange students wishing to come for part or their entire educational career in Greece. Provided with a computer, I work out of my home, networking with universities in America and connecting them to educational opportunities at ULV, Athens.

I also found a local shop that needed some extra help and started working there a few days a week just to keep things fun. The shop is called Εγιρα which translates roughly into “new beginnings.” How appropriate! The shop is filled with unique treasures from all over the world; it enchants me just to be around them. Co-owners, Marie Louise and Stephen Turvey, share with us pieces that are made with traditional methods and a contemporary style. There is purity and elegance in every one. I happened to meet Marie Louise through a mutual friend and ended up getting to know an amazing woman who is an inspiration to those of us with a passion and respect for life. I found myself not only working in a wonderful shop, but getting to know a new role model as well.

Today, this is where I am. I live the life I daydreamed about everyday in my old cubicle. I walk the streets that excite me. I spend all the time I wish with my daughter. I say good morning to those I pass and make friends easily with my neighbors. The small apartment is cozier than ever and MUCH easier to clean! I have found a suitable career and have again been inspired by others. Look, I had no relationship with Greece outside of my own feeling of connection with it. I had no relatives, property, or history tying me to it. I just knew it was where my soul was most at peace and because of that I knew I couldn’t fail. Sure, I was scared, but once I took the first step, the courage seemed to come naturally and then the rest of the journey seemed to take on a life of its own.

I encourage you to find your way to the ideal life for yourself, one that you CAN live with. Surround yourself with the things that move you and represent you honestly. Find the courage to express yourself and take the path that warms you. There are so many opportunities and resources out there to start searching or reaching for this very day. Take advantage of them! Doing it feels 10 times better than talking about it! You’ll see!

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” —Goethe

I hope that this has been powerful and moving for you.  This may be the beginning of the rest of my life!