I am living in a one-bedroom apartment.
Thought I wouldn't bury the lead.
Many people think I'm nuts. More wonder if I've become a gambling addict. Over Christmas break people pitied me. I saw it in their eyes.
Oh, you poor dear.
Oh my. What happened to Tracy and her family? I could never live like that.
Turns out, this was one of the best Christmases my family has ever spent together. All of us under one roof. I felt like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with two or three kids in our sole, king-sized bed.
If you follow this blog, you know I've been writing about Big Dreams and waking up with enthusiasm every morning.
I want to share a crazy step I took toward mine a few months ago.
My next-door neighbor and former colleague at Channel 4 sold her house for a decent profit. She highly encouraged me to sell mine, too.
As I considered the idea, I thought of our best family friends in Arizona.
They're a tad bit older with kids the same age as ours. He's worked his whole life serving the poor at a Phoenix non-profit; his wife works her butt off as a freelance graphic designer.
The humble Dennis asked his wife one day, "What is one of your biggest dreams after we get these kids through college?"
Julie thought about it. "A VW bug."
"Let's not wait," Dennis replied. "Let's do it now. What are we waiting for?"
They found Julie a red bug in darling condition. She was elated, driving around in her sassy car, looking like the spunky, youthful Julie she is.
As I started to pursue the idea of selling my home and finding a smaller one here (we are NOT leaving Nashville!), knowing we will have fewer visitors once Luke's senior basketball season ends, I considered the Flynn's red bug...and the dream I've held since 2000. That's when we moved from Lexington, Kentucky for my opportunity of a lifetime to host my own show in Phoenix. As part of that deal, which I assured the kids would be a "three-year vacation," I promised we would move back.
It's been 17 years.
We sold the Nashville house in one weekend.
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| Bye bye Brookwood Terrace (and the world's most adorable neighbors!) |
We found a place to build in Kentucky that will fit our Paul Bunyan-sized furniture, where we can escape on long weekends and holidays.
No more suffocating our poor, generous family members and sleeping in their basements. God bless them all these years. The Kornets are not an easy, tiny bunch.
We found a dog-friendly, ground-level apartment near Centennial Park. When we hear the pitter patter of neighbors' feet in the apartment above, we tell ourselves, It sounds like John, Nicole and Luke are home!
Change can be sooooo hard, but it can also excite and inspire.
New experiences, new locations.
It's why I'd rather not stay in the same hotel twice. Why every 8 years or so I've shifted roles at work or changed genres of television.
The downside is that we've moved more than the average family. I confess, I have felt relief reading a couple of recent stories in which the kids said some nice things about how they grew up.
So again I ask: Is there a decision or move you've been considering but are too afraid to try? A dream that continually nags at your heart?
If you're bored or discontent, I encourage you to take one step.
At the very least, it will lead you somewhere new.
And that can be exciting.
What are you waiting for?
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