In Steps #1 and #2 of moving for seniors we talked about defining what the senior wants in a community. I also invited you to contact me for a complimentary Housing Directory. It's usually around this point that seniors start to think about everything that's involved with the move, become overwhelemed, throw their hands up in the air, and say "forget it!" So, it's a good time to remind you of why planning is so important. Tackling change is hard. If you don't make the decisions, someone else will. You CAN manage this change.
How many things in our society have changed during your lifetime that you had no control of? Think for a moment of the telephone. There have been numerous changes with the telephone over the years. Some might consider it progress, and some of us may consider it a nuisance! Remember the rotary dial telephone? My mom used to dial it with a pencil eraser. We went from rotary dial, to push button telephones, to answering machines, to voice mail, to car phones, to cell phones, etc. When was the last time you called a business and actually had a human being answer the phone? You usually have to work your way through a menu of options by pushing numbers on your key pad, then when the human being finally gets on the phone, they ask you the same questions all over again! Change.
You have gone through more change than any generation before you. You have witnessed more change than any generation after you. Throughout your life you have witnessed and adapted to all sorts of changes. Most of those changes happened gradually. They didn’t happen overnight. Your move to your new home can happen gradually too. It may take you a full year or more to plan your move.
You have an opportunity to decide how you will move. You can avoid it and have someone eventually make the decisions for you, or you can take charge. You can decide to make this move without giving up things that are important to you. You have a window of opportunity to take charge of change. This is your window of opportunity.
Consider this:
Planning your move does not commit you to moving today. It does mean thoughtful consideration of the development of a move plan so that when it's time for you to make a move, you're ready, and it will happen on your terms.
This might sound harsh, but I've seen it time and again and I can only hope you'll take it to heart:
Those that plan have choices and get the best, those that don't plan, get what's left over.
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