The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, they make them. ~George Bernard Shaw

Whenever I meet someone new here and they ask what brought me to Las Cruces, I usually say that it was the mountains, the weather, the rich cultural life . . . the whole mix just appealed to me.

My husband was looking for a kinder, less frenetic pace of life and liked what he saw here, too. We both found a lot to like in this desert city that we wanted to make a part of our lives.

OK, in the case of our relocation, it’s not about me – it’s about US because this is a marriage. But you get my point . . .

You don’t need permission or special circumstances such as a job to make a change in your geography. You don’t need any other reason than that you’ve discovered the place you’ve always wanted to live, which brings us to:

Guideline 5  for securing your Geographic Freedom, 

Choose a location that fits your lifestyle.

Opportunity to enjoy a better quality of life is reason enough for relocating ~ good enough for all the seasons of life including post-retirement, post-graduation, and post-relationship.

Even post-layoff.

Your surroundings can either energize you or drain you physically and emotionally.  I like how Justin Lukasavige put it best:  Where you live matters.

He should know. When Justin and his family moved from North Carolina to Colorado, they enjoyed a week of sightseeing along the way. His desire for his family to live a larger more colorful life story was the primary motivation for the move and the Rocky Mountain State fits the bill beautifully.

If you’re at your most energetic and productive when by the beach, then the two weeks vacation time you get to spend in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico or Zihuatanejo, Mexico each year isn’t nearly enough.

So many people, your family and friends and others whose lives you’ll touch with your talents and gifts – yes, we’ve all got talents! – want and need you FULLY ENGAGED YEAR AROUND.  

While the U.S. is a big country, it’s in an even bigger world. Maybe you’ve been daydreaming about living in a certain foreign locale. If so, the time has come to check it out – read books, seek out people to talk to who have been there and done that, plan a scouting trip.

Real people are living there right now, searching bakery displays for morning pastries in Paris.

Why not you?

And if across the ocean seems too great a distance to believe for and act on right now, then fine . . . move across town, or at least across the hall!

Only get moving!  

Tick, tock, tick, tock! 

Precious time of your most precious life is passing by.

Whatever you do . . . don’t stay somewhere just because it’s where you’ve always been.

So, where in this country – or the world – would you be in your “sweet spot?” Please SHARE with a comment below!

Did you miss the other Guidelines for Geographic Freedom in the series? No worries. CLICK here for Guideline 1 and find links to the others at the end of the post.