Sometimes to Survive Your Situation You Have to Take a LEAP!
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My son is quite the daredevil. Don’t believe me? At 2 years old he would cry when he wasn’t tall enough for the roller coasters. By 3 years old he started riding Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios – and enjoyed it. He also climbed his first 40 foot tall rock climbing wall – unassisted.Â
Now he is 5 years old and will be 6 years old in a few months and he never ceases to amaze me at what he can accomplish. I’m not just saying that because he’s my son – people around us have been telling us the same thing about him since he was about 6 months old (and crawling like crazy!). He’s not afraid to take a chance, a risk, or a leap – but he is careful about it and knows that with each jump he might fall. He’s a go-getter and I know I can certainly learn something from him!Â
Sometimes I think we’re stuck behind a fence and we can’t see what’s ahead. We’re too scared to try something new because quite honestly we’re already in a stressful situation and we’re scared to death to try something that might make it even worse. It can be terrifying! But you never know – it might make it better. Every course in life has a reason behind it and sometimes the only way to change it is to stand up and embrace a change. Sure, sometimes we fall flat on our butts and end up under water, but sometimes it’s the only way to move ahead.
To be honest we have made our biggest decisions when we’ve hit rock bottom and finally realized things just weren’t working. I wonder what would have happened if we had made our decisions earlier! Why did we wait so long to make such a big decision? We were scared!
But sometimes you might just find that you enjoy the ride! We have found that we truly couldn’t survive on just my husband’s teaching salary for our family of four. He was bringing home less than $2000 a month and we just couldn’t make ends meet. For about 5 years I watched other kids at home or went to their home as a nanny which would just hold us above water – most of the time. Then I decided to stop watching other kids in my house and focus on blogging. Since I don’t make a ton of money blogging it was a bit scary, and we still had a hard time making ends meet. After struggling for over 5 years we finally decided that it couldn’t get much worse – our family HAD to make a change and it HAD to be drastic to matter.Â
 My husband started applying for principal jobs all over the country. In fact a few years ago we put in an application with the Department of Defense to teach overseas. We loved Florida, my husband wants to retire there, but since we just couldn’t see the end to our dilemma we had to open up our searching options. It was a drastic change, but just a few months ago we moved to a tiny town with 26 houses in Iowa. What a change! But it has been a GOOD change and the best decision for our family. My husband accepted a principal job in this small town and although he technically makes less than he did as a teacher the perks are better and the people here are so extremely generous. Our family is happier, my husband is less stressed, and we have much better schooling options for our children.Â
Think your situation is hopeless? Think outside the box! Try selling your own materials on TeachersPayTeachers – it’s FREE! Look on Craigslist to see if anyone is looking for childcare. Are you handy? Can you clean a house? What about sew? Build things? Tutor? Mow a lawn? Put a free ad up looking for work. We’ve found all sorts of odd and end jobs that way. Maybe you are like we were and you just can’t make ends meet no matter what you do. You may need to take the leap and consider a career change or job move. Don’t limit yourself or you may miss out on an amazing opportunity!
TAKE A LEAP!Â
Consider it carefully! What do you have to lose?
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I agree, often fear holds us back from some promising things!
Great ideas! Right now we are saving to buy land. With my illness working outside the home won't happen. I do as much as I can from home to help though.
We can learn so much from our children!
Thanks for the site you posted. My friends are out of work and are looking so thank you! And I agree, fear is a detriment sometimes!
I completely agree too. It sometimes does take our children to remember to take leaps.
I'm glad people can take the time to realize we can learn from our kids. Great post!
Fear definitely holds me back sometimes. I am so excited to see where you are headed in the coming year!
Children are amazing little teachers aren't they. Mine teach me life lessons daily.
Lots of luck in your blogging journey and to your husband on his job hunt. The right door will open for your family soon.
These people , mom, husband & 2 boys are my friends. They taught me to take a leap ,keep fighting and to listen to people who love me .My friends left Florida for the best reasons ever Their Family .i want to thank them for their friendship and support through the years.I love and miss you but I am so proud of the choices you have made .