Comments on: False Starts and Rough Beginnings

By: autumn

autumn — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:02:57 +0000

Oh, we are so glad you are here…never move, please. Great post. See you soon.

By: anne

anne — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:24:49 +0000

So, I guess that “give it two years” advice isn’t off-base. It’s nice to know others have experienced the same thing…and even more comforting that most of you seem to have found some peace, even amidst the discomfort.

By: Kristen @ Motherese

Kristen @ Motherese — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:42:43 +0000

Like so many of the previous commenters, I have struggled to feel at home in my “new” town. I moved to the Midwest from the Northeast almost three years ago and still don’t quite know what to make of the place.

But, as you have found, I think there is great value in choosing positivity: putting down roots in order to have the opportunity to bloom where you are planted.

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:11:07 +0000

Anne I can really relate to this post! Moving to the “other end of the spectrum” is so difficult. Hopefully this huge challenge will result in an amazing blessing.

By: Gale

Gale — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:11:04 +0000

Congrats on finding your equilibrium. That’s no small feat. I too struggled a bit to settle into this city when I moved here nine years ago. But over the course of a couple of years it became familiar, and then it became home. And regardless of what it had to offer at first blush, being “home” is nothing to sneeze at.

By: Rebecca @ Diary of a Virgin Novelist

Rebecca @ Diary of a Virgin Novelist — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:58:25 +0000

It took me three years to like New York City. And I would have left if I could during that period. I would still rather live in California, but if I can’t…well, I kinda love Brooklyn.

By: Diane

Diane — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:17:33 +0000

good question. doesn’t seem as though we should expect everything to always be easy and wonderful, else we would probably not fully appreciate the true glory of those easy and wonderful things that we are so fortunate to experience. Good for you for your perseverence and taking the effort to find those wonderful things that are in your own backyard.

By: Nicki

Nicki — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:14:07 +0000

I am the one who holds on, possibly a bit too long, trying to make what I think should work actually work. I have done it with gigs/jobs. I do it with relationships. Some day I will realize I need to cut the cord sooner but I am not ready yet to admit that.

I do, though, only give a book 50 pages and it is gone if it doesn’t grab me.

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:10:53 +0000

As the in-house change-a-holic, I struggle mightily with this in my own life. Knowing when to cut your losses and when to stick it out is often a cosmic mystery. I’ve often been guilty of cutting my losses too soon — and, I suspect, missed out on some great opportunities because of it. But, I think it just lead me down more (circuitous?) roads. And sometimes, as you said, bad starts just get worse. I started one of the worst jobs of my life on 9/11/01: it was definitely an omen.

I think it’s interesting that you say that things got better after that eight-month mark, the point in which you made the CHOICE to stick it out. Sometimes I think change is simply reframing and accepting your circumstance: not that you have to accept them FOREVER, just for now. Sort of the embodiment of LiP, huh?

PS: I give a book 100 pages to capture me before I jump ship!

By: Jan

Jan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:53:14 +0000

Let me say a word for those who don’t question where they are: if you live in a place that is notable for its low cost of living, you’re in a place that doesn’t have a ton in the way of attractions. 40 years later, you ask, “Why was I dropped on this planet in this particulr spot?” Why am I not somewhere more charming, exciting, etc. Your town was the same place two years ago that it is now. So is mine. As Thoreau said, Be deliberate.