living the change

College promised me that doing the smart thing would set me up for happiness. I look at my dropout friends, and heck my cousin who was given a social graduation from high school, and I gotta say -- Liars! These folks have kids. Sure, they can't drop cash to replace the car when it slips a rod on the freeway, and they've never been to Disneyworld, but those seem small potatoes in comparison.

The most recent expression of "the smart thing" is what we're doing now: staying in Small City rather than potentially moving to Big City in the middle of Nowhere. The potential new boss was not forthcoming with enough information to let us decide for ourselves what kind of a lifestyle change this would be, and we figured out that dropping out before the offer was better for company politics than rejecting an insufficient offer, so here we are.

And where are we? Safe, in Small City, still dreaming and still risk adverse. But slightly more curious about our current ability, with no promotion, to change our lives. It's a good place to be in. It's a smart place to be in.

Now, if only my employer would decide they don't need as many of me, and give me a month or so of unemployment benefits so I could change my career. . .

I need to stop hoping for externals, and hope for courage, resolve, and valor. It's time to really be smart.