Did you hear? Apparently we are terribly unlucky. Or at least, that's what people keep telling me. Here's the thing.

Little over two years ago we moved to the house we live in today. It was love at first sight. It's a house with a soul, not to mention the beautiful backyard, nearby shops and schools. To cut a long story short: we love this place. But…it's a rental.
We had hoped to make a bid on the place in a year or two, but the owner beat us to it. She let us know she will be moving in again, which means we'll have to start looking for a new place. There's a 6 months notice. In other words, we'll have to pack up and leave by the end of August.   

When we told our friends and relatives, practically everyone felt the need to vent their disbelieve, disagreement with the owner's decision and even disgust and near outrage. As I said, apparently, we are so unlucky. 

Both An and I couldn't help but feel a little awkward about that. Not the unlucky part, the tone of voice people reacted in. Do we like the idea of having to move? No. Do we enjoy telling the kids they will probably have to go to a different school? No. Are we happy with the timing of all of this? Not by a long shot. But are we unlucky? That question isn't even on our radar. It is beyond irrelevant. We are talking about moving from one place to another, period. How does that trigger all these rants about the unfortunate Raats family?

Incidentally there was an item on the news yesterday, mentioning the fact that we have never swallowed as many anti-depressants as we do nowadays. We have never tried to drug ourselves out of anxieties, fears and doubts as much as we do today. Why? Because there is more depression amongst people? The answer appears to be negative. Because we feel less and less content about our lives, jobs, relationships? The answer was positive. That, and the idea that a pill can take care of all of that.

In fact two relatives let us know they had to take a sleeping pill when they heard the news of us having to move…

Looking at our own recent history I can't think of any reason why we should worry about this. I cannot ignore the fact that I started doing the work I do today because of a business partnership gone seriously wrong. I had two options: go down, or start doing what I had wanted to do for so long but was too afraid to try.
In short, I feel I have the best job in the world today, thanks to that unfortunate situation telling me to move on.

So today, I can't help but wonder: what beauty lies ahead thanks to this little hick-up? What people will we meet because of this? What things will we be doing, sharing, building…thanks to this?

I can't help but think that this is meaningful. That somehow, this may not be what we had wished for, but rather exactly what we needed to be able to move on.

It won't be long now before you will see an entirely redesigned Pinching the Ostrich website.(very excited about that) Or before you will see the video of my current "overcome anything" challenge. Or before I will be able to share the new professional path that lies before me. Or before I can share a vast amount of inspiring content with all of you. There is so much good out there, not because it just happens to fall in ones lap, but because you choose to see it that way.

By the way, I'm fighting off the flu right now. I feel like a truck just ran over me. Unlucky? Not a chance. It's a slow week anyway, I've just had the best first quarter ever and it gave me the opportunity to write this entry.

Oh, about the move. Our youngest daughter (5) asked whether we would be moving in summer. We said yes. She gave us this big smile and said: "Wow, then we get to walk with our boxes out in the sun!" :-) That's the spirit!

Moving on,
Karl

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