Those Who Leave, and Those Who Stay

It was December in the early ninety's and I was on a vacation in South Florida getting ready to depart for home in Minnesota. It was a sunny 88F and my heart was heavy with gloomy thoughts of the cold weather ahead after hearing the current temperature was -12F. That was a one hundred degree difference between here and there. It was then that dreams of leaving first entered my thoughts. And those thoughts became words, and the words became actions, and within a year it happened. I left. I was one of those who leave. I had my partner who shared this journey with me, and together we braved all the adventure, and adversity that we would encounter. But the idea of going back, or should we have stayed; never entered our thoughts.

There's something to be said about those who leave, and those who stay. Those who stay don't have a new adventure to look forward to, they don't have the excitement of change. Exploring a new place is always a bit like falling in love. There is a rush to it, a childlike sense of discovery and triumph to finding all the cool places, people and things to do. But those who stay have everything the same, except you're gone. Those who stay are reliable, predictable, and loyal to their routines and others expectations. They are bound to their families, their jobs, their friends and cherish that sense of security - all understandable things.

So, what are we? Those who leave? Selfish. Not dependable. Unpredictable. This makes those who stay want to disconnect with those who leave. No one wants to invest in people when they are just going to disappear someday. There are also feelings of envy, and anger at those who leave that only time will heal. So then the doubts may surface, maybe those who leave wonder if they are doing the right thing. But then it wouldn't be their life anymore. They would be living someone else's story. And that's not a way to live.