The Uncertain Certainty Of Your Future

The uncertain certainty of your future isn’t supposed to sound like the title of a new age ebook or clinic.

It is just the post-midnight reflection of your old friend Jack.

That is ‘cuz in a short time the Traveling Jack show is going to hit the road again for parts unknown and that got me thinking about life in general.

I could tell you about the hours spent working on the whiteboard in my office and how I solved some of the great math challenges of the world and wrote sonnets that would make Shakespeare howl with jealousy.

Believe me I thought about sharing some of those things with you because art isn’t supposed to be hidden away from the world.

It is supposed to be shared so that it can move and inspire others but in this case I had to refrain because I didn’t want to make other bloggers jealous of my skill and wit.

Or in more accurate terms I didn’t share any of it because I have been too busy trying to figure out where we are going to move to.

Why?

Because I have been a renter since I sold my house five years ago and my landlord decided they needed this place for family and gave us notice.

Since I had always intended upon moving it wasn’t a horrible thing, but it did create some unnecessary chaos because I had thought I could do it on my timetable.

Surprise.

Some of you may think of the words above as being a nice quote but I don’t.

I see them as a call to action and one I intend to answer.

Call this an opportunity to use it as a teaching moment and to help my children see firsthand how sometimes life throws a curveball at you.

That is the short-term goal but it is also tied into my long term goal of putting myself on a path that is going to lead me to enjoying a better life in a shorter amount of time.

In simple English that means I am focused on earning more money and living in a place with a lower cost of living than where I am at now.

I have some ideas for how to make that happen but sadly I haven’t received any messages from wise owls, at least none that I remember.

What To Share

So I have been wrestling with what to share with my kids because some of the things I am working on may not happen.

Right now they are in a place where they could easily go either direction and experience has shown me that what looks impossible or possible often is.

Meaning I don’t want to say anything to the kids about big changes that might not happen because they have no ability to influence things.

They can’t push for or against and they can’t influence the decision makers on the other side of these choices so I figure partial silence is best for now.

I told them we are going to move the day after I knew it was going to happen. Told them not to worry about having a place to live because I am not concerned about it.

We aren’t at risk of not having a place to live, we just don’t know where.

It is kind of cool and exciting.

A Different Kind Of Life

There are moments where I feel like I haven’t given them enough. Moments where I can’t help but compare their life to the childhood I had and struggle with it.

I lived in the same house my entire childhood. We weren’t rich, but we weren’t poor either.

Never went hungry or went without clothes. My folks always managed to take us on family trips and we had a lot of experiences.

That is not to say my kids haven’t had any of that because they have had a lot of it, but they have had a lot of turmoil and change that I didn’t.

Most of the time I just shrug my shoulders and keep going because I have done the best I can and they haven’t ever been hungry, without clothing or shelter.

They have been on lots of trips and done lots of things so their lives aren’t bad, but I do wish they had a little less of the turmoil.

On the other hand since change is a constant I hope their experiences with it as kids makes it easier to roll with as adults.

We know that hard moments hit all of us and maybe some of the crazier moments as kids will help them manage better as adults.

Anyhoo the crazy plan I am working on now is supposed to set up a stronger foundation so that this kind of seesaw activity happens less and or has less influence.

There is enough mishegoss and narishkeit in life without some of this other stuff so I guess time will tell whether my plan worked or not,