Why We've Decided To Get Rid Of Nearly All Our Possessions and Move To A Third-World Country

We always said that "one day", we would go and live in the Kingdom of Tonga (my husband's country of birth) for a year, and send our children to school there...

So recently, I got to thinking.

Our house is sold. As of yesterday, we no longer have a mortgage. We have no rent to pay. We had to pack up our belongings, anyway. We haven't yet paid a lot of money to upgrade our car. My husband is not working and we have no way of knowing how long before he can go back to work.

Why not now? We may never get such a perfect opportunity again.

My husband was hesitant at first. But the more he thought about it, the more excited he got.

The moment he said "Yes. Let's do it!" I felt the grip of fear go around my chest like a vice.

But what if? What if I couldn't handle it? What if one of us got really sick? What if our son resented us for taking him out of a school - where he'd just started to excel - and into a new school in a new country where he had to learn a new language? What if I got really bored and lonely? What if...What if....what if....What on earth was I thinking????

Maybe I should just stop this crazy nonsense of wanting a life less ordinary, and just settle for life in the suburbs, along with everyone else....

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

But I knew I'd regret it if I didn't. It was now or never.

We had a garage sale, and sold some of our furniture. Then we gave away bikes, a piano, a BBQ, a TV cabinet and various other bits and pieces to friends who wanted them. Two uteloads of stuff to the recycling centre, another two uteloads to the rubbish dump, several carloads to the Salvos.

Apart from our car, all of our worldly possessions now fit into a 3x3metre storage space.

The more possessions I got rid of, the lighter I began to feel. I cannot begin to tell you!! The other day I tweeted: " Until I moved house, I did not realise what a burden it is to have possessions".

Yes. All those things that I just "had to have" were nothing more than burdens. Why did I not see it until now?

Last night, when our house officially became someone else's house, I felt a little bit sad, but mostly I felt liberated. We are free! The future is alive with possibilities.

For now, we are staying with friends, but we will probably head over to Tonga in January, ready for our son to begin the school year.

Who knows? We are flying by the seat of our pants, with no plan and no roadmap. After a year in the islands, where poverty meets paradise, who knows where life will take us, or how much we'll have changed?

I know it's the right decision. I know. Because I've been smiling more lately. (Yes. Entirely unscientific observation, I know)

I have swallowed my fear. Now it just feels exhilarating...the way I imagine life was meant to feel...

"The Days Are Long, But The Years Are Short..."

Moving Day has finally arrived. I promised myself that I wouldn't feel sad, but I do.

The sight of my son's purple preschool hat lying in a bag of rubbish by the door was more than I could bear.

I realised, then, why I feel sad.

It's not because of this house, or this stuff.

It's because of the time that I'll never get back again. While my children were busy growing up, my husband and I were busy working (sometimes 3 jobs at a time), studying, and preoccupied with making ends meet, and paying for this house. Years just seemed to fly by, without us even realising.

All I remember from these past few years, is a feeling of being stressed and exasperated with my children. Didn't they know I was busy and had so much to do? Couldn't they just go and play quietly and leave me in peace? Sure, I would give them my full attention, just as soon as I finished this really important thing..."

But there was always another Really Important Thing waiting to be done...

As they say: "The days are long, but the years are short". Surely, every mother perfectly understands this seemingly contradictory statement.

I sneak back and salvage the little purple hat from the rubbish bag, and promise myself that the future will be different....

PS. Along these lines, my husband and I have made a really radical, potentially life-changing decision. I will write about it soon, when I've managed to get my head around the enormity of it :-)

It's a Girl!!

Dear Readers, please excuse me. I'll be missing from the blogosphere for a bit, while I enjoy every delicious inch of my newborn daughter...

Sanchia

02 - 11 - 2011

As every other mother out there knows, I am currently very busy:

• Staring at her with a goofy smile on my face.
• Feeling her chest in the wee small hours to make sure she's still breathing
• Being hungry ALL. THE. TIME.
• Trying to keep her besotted big brothers from smothering her in their enthusiasm.
• Fighting my way through mountains of washing, and dirty nappies.
• Marvelling over how a tiny soul can weave her way so effortlessly into the fabric of a family.
• Sunning my sore nipples in the backyard, and hoping no-one is peeking through the fence at me, while pondering whether I have, in fact, lost my marbles.
• Snoozing in the first available armchair.

Oh, and there's that small matter of having to be moved out of our home in another three weeks...

Did I mention that I am Very Busy? I am also Very Happy, Very Thankful and Very Blessed.