I was having a coffee yesterday morning with a new friend that I have met since moving to Montpellier.

She has an interesting story of moving from the Eastern Europe to California a few decades ago and now moving back to Europe. Montpellier as luck would have it.

How she decided to move to Montpellier is why I’m writing this blog post. Because it is a familiar story. Her sister in law started reading websites / blog posts about retiring in Europe, specifically Italy. They started meeting regularly, getting together to hatch the plan, to visit and to start making this move a reality. They were going to buy a home together in Italy, the 2 couples, share expenses and (semi) retire.

But guess what happened? The closer the move to Italy came, the further the sister in law distanced herself. She was in love with the idea but ended up being too afraid to move forward with their plans. So rather than face her doubts and fears, she retreated from living this dream.

Why I bring this up is because this is a text book example of someone letting fears override what it is they really want to do. This woman had initiated the plan between these 2 families yet backed off and never spoke of the plans again.

How many of us do this in some aspect of our life? Want something to happen so badly yet reject it as it gets closer. That fear of the unknown creeps in and we find it easier to stay put, to not take action – rather than risk failure and judgement.

My new friend and her husband clearly decided to move forward, they ended up choosing France rather than Italy. She says that this sister in law has never once reminisced or spoke again about what got this all started. It was originally a shared dream. But one that one party moved forward on and the other stayed put.

Don’t be the dog sitting on the tack. The unknown can be exhilarating, comfortable, fun, safe, adventurous and down right f*cking rewarding.

Give yourself the chance to try something. Find that courage. You can always go back.