IF ?

[Tarrel]

I think this brings us back to the old conundrum of "when does business-as-usual stop being business-as-usual?"

Before we moved out of the South East, I often used to speculate about the possibility of an escalating crisis, and at what point I would decide it's time to bug out. There are powerful forces that keep many of us doing what we do, ranging from simple practical issues such as earning a living, through to things such as fear of the unknown or reluctance to step outside the comfort zone.

The closer you are to an environment, the more difficult it is to see it deteriorating. A bit like the frog boiling to death in the slowly-heated pan of water. When we'd been in Scotland for a few months, I had occasion to visit London for a few days. It was like arriving in a foreign country! (Soon will be, maybe lol!). Just a few months away had completely changed my perception.

My advice to city dwellers would be twofold:

1. Carry out an objective and realistic appraisal of the pro's and con's of continuing to live where you do. Draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper and make two lists; pro's and con's. Try to look at your town from the point of view of someone visiting for the first time. See it as it is now, not as you fondly remember it from a few years ago. Then make your choice.

2. Delete the phrase "have to" from your vocabulary. We all have choices. Some of those choices involve negative consequences or, possibly, short-term loss for long-term gain. Some choices are very hard to make, and you may have to live with yourself and the decision for a long time if you make the wrong one. But the minute you find yourself saying "I have to", you become a prisoner. (No judging intended. Just a lesson I learned personally many years ago). Even if you decide that now is not the time to leave, start to plan for when that is no longer the case. "Have your ticket ready for when the ship comes into dock".

Hope this was useful.