I don’t consider myself and overly emotional person. Well let me clarify that.  I am a crier.  Not so much ugly cries, but I can tear up and get a lump in my throat at just about anything.  If I am proud of someone, I tear up.  If I watch something moving on TV, I weep.  I can’t watch a single talent show like So You Think you Can Dance or The Voice without getting misty.  I cry at the National Anthem, even at kids sporting events.  And don’t get my started on those darned Military Reunion videos.  The waterworks come on every single time.  But no, I don’t consider myself overly emotional.  Don’t stop reading yet…this crazy lady has a point.  I promise.

What I mean is that I like to deal with the facts in front of me.  I don’t get dwell on things in the past and things I cannot change.  I like to move forward.  I have realized that we are all living on borrowed time and if I walk through my journey collecting baggage along the way, I would quite literally drown in my own existence.

If you are thinking, “Why have a section called ‘My Reflections’ at all?” That’s a valid question.

It’s partly for me, to pause and reflect on this journey and the decisions we are making as we go through the process, but it’s also for others contemplating a major life change. I have read a lot about the Yucatan and Merida, have researched areas and how to purchase property and how to buy a car. I know it’ s not easy to get a traditional job (for an expat or a Mexican citizen).  I know about the different types of Visas and how to obtain them.  I even read that the best US State to get a license plate for your car in Mexico is from South Dakota. But in all my reading, a lot of times I was left to read between the lines on the experience of moving to Mexico.  Why do people move?  How did they decide where? How did their families react?  What effect did it have on their relationships with their children, with their spouses, with their friends?

I know everyone is different and everyone comes with a unique perspective and set of circumstances.   Not everyone will be able to relate to everything I write about and some might even criticize me.  There will be people nodding up and down while watching from afar and some will be shouting “Amen Sister” from the rooftops as they pack their bags and book the next flight to wherever their dreams take them.  But that’s both the risk and the beauty of opening yourself up to others.  I am not going to please everyone.  (If I do, let me know because I might consider a run for office.)  No seriously, all kidding aside, I firmly believe that as human beings we are more alike than different and the world would be a better place if we confronted fears with knowledge, practiced empathy more than judgement and looked at our responsibility as global citizens a little more seriously.