Adventures With A Pitbull

Airport layovers seem to be fantastic places for me to write blog posts. When you’re forced to sit and wait for long periods of time, you have plenty of time to think. What I’m thinking about is my journey from California to Minnesota. Last year at this time I was in the beginning stages of prepping my condo in the Bay Area for sale. By placing my condo for sale, I was agreeing to the reality that I will never be able to financially own another piece of real estate in California again. Yes, it is THAT expensive. I was also agreeing to the reality that if I did choose to move back to California, I’d have a heck of a time finding a place to rent because my dog is a Pitbull. What many people don’t know is that most states in the US have breed restrictive laws when it comes to rental properties. What that means is that if you are a dog owner, and your dog is a Pitbull, Akita, Doberman, or other “aggressive breed dog,” you are not allowed to rent most properties available. Your. “Aggressive breed dog” is too high of an insurance liability to rent to “those kind of Pet owners.” Knowing all of this, I signed that contract. I signed the contract that said I was willing to give up what most people would consider a “choice property,” for an adventure with a lot of question marks. Some people thought I was crazy. Some people couldn’t understand my choice of moving to Minnesota. And for the first time in my life, I was totally fine with that.

Unfortunately I am a hardcore people pleaser. If someone (especially someone I love and respect) questions my choices, I have often placated to their opinions even if I knew it was NOT the right choice for me. For me to not only come to the decision to completely change my life and environment, and stand confidently in that decision despite other people’s questions, means I developed some serious hutzpah. That hutzpah translated to confidence. And that confidence translated to happiness. It hasn’t been easy every step of the way. I’ve written previously about battles with anxiety this past year. Despite that, I have continually made REALLY brave choices during this time.

The past year I have made the following brave choices:

1. Sold my condo in the Bay Area
2. Moved to Minnesota with my dog and no home or job in the immediate future
3. Purchased a home & a new car (my old car died before I left)
4. Partially Renovated said home
5. Wrote/Blogged honestly about my life, my anxiety and my panic attacks
6. Took a 3 week trip to CA & Maui and left my dog with strangers for the first time ever (PS, they ended up being the BEST dog sitters ever!)
7. Booked a spot in an artist retreat where I won’t know anyone (hence current layover while writing this post).

These words/stories might be repetitive thoughts of what I’ve shared in prior posts. I believe they’re worth repeating and celebrating. Brave choices need to be shared and celebrated. They need to be shared and celebrated because they require courage and effort. Also, the act of sharing means you are able to be vulnerable with your life. And in that vulnerability, you might be able to help someone else to make the brave choice in their life. So whoever needs to hear this….you should make that brave and scary choice. It will scare the shit out of you, but your life will be soo much better for it. You will learn what it means to be a participant in your own life instead of sitting passively on the sidelines.