Why is it that we always subscribe to our cultural up bringing before we even have time to think? That wily hard wiring slips in and before we know it, we’re subscribing to the cultural norm and not even considering the alternative. I don’t mean that we mull it over and listen to that little voice that says “no, if you do that you’ll be deemed a bad parent, lover, friend” etc. What I mean is that the primary source-thought doesn’t even cross our minds because we’ve been trained not to go there in the first place!
What has brought up this question is that my husband and I have been thinking about moving for a while now and just haven’t gotten up the gall to actually move on it. In as much as we speak of those who refuse to leave our little po-dunk towns here in the middle-of-nowhere Arizona, we haven’t managed to leave a year after I’ve graduated. There are certain things that would make it difficult to move around (as those who know us can understand) but in the end, those excuses are just more excuses and everyone has an excuse. We are not unique in that base fact. I realized this the other day when my husband came home and told me that it didn’t even cross his young friends mind to move to Spain now that he graduated because he cannot work or go to college in the U.S. for legal reasons. When I heard this fact, and the fact that the young man didn’t want to go back to Mexico, I immediately thought of other ways for Efrain’s friend to achieve his dreams without all the hardship and corruption of Mexico. I thought of Spain, of South America, of places he could go being bilingual and a good young man. In mentioning Spain, the fella’s eyes lit up but I could see his thoughts that, “this is just a silly dream.” As I always say, “what the hell’s wrong with dreaming?” and as I always say, “be careful because your dreams usually come true and then some.” I traveled Spain when I was about 18 and I had no plans to go to Germany or Austria but ended up going there and enjoying the heck out of it. When I decided to live in Hawaii, I never imagined meeting a soul like Charlotte and traveling Thailand with her. The point being- if you can handle it, God might just have more in store for you than you could have imagined in the first place but it is important to act on your dreams because it is a true show that you can handle it.
So I have decided that it is high time that Efrain and I walk our talk. We’ve been looking into living in Puerto Rico, inspired by my friend Liz who frequents there quite often. Lo and behold, both of us can get visas there - no problem. Amazing. How I didn’t know this in the first place is because the thought DIDN’T EVEN CROSS MY MIND. And those are the most frustrating functions of the mind -The ones that don’t even consider a prospect because opportunity and possibility for the good have been beaten out of it. Now we are contemplating the opportunity to go to Puerto Rico to buy a home and maybe start a business there. You’d think that after three visits over seas with more travel than I bargained for I would have thought of a prospect like this, but day in and day out, travel and wonder are not really a large part of my consciousness. All literature on buying in places like Puerto Rico, Cancoon, are either for expats or rich folk – not for young couples. So now my question is, why wait??? Why wait to buy a home in an “exotic location” until your retired? Who knows? It may be just as easy to buy that home down the street, as it is to buy in a place you really want to live – in our case, maybe easier!
If anyone out there has suggestions on jobs and places to live in Puerto Rico, let me know!
Comments