Let’s get real for a minute. I just had this conversation with a colleague and wanted to share my perspective.
The real reason people choose not to follow their dream of moving or traveling long-term in Mexico is because of their job.
It’s ok. It’s actually hard wired in our DNA but that doesn’t mean we should listen.
Let me explain
It’s in our human nature to search for and hold on to “security”. If we don’t have it, we hold on to the hope that someday we’ll find it. This is because that is all we had at one point in our evolution. Our only hope was that tomorrow we’d find food, water and shelter to protect us from wild animals and the elements.
It was probably difficult to find a place that had this magic combination so when we found it we’d feel safe and secure if only for a little while. That is until the seasons changed or food got scarce and then we’d be off again searching for our livelihood.
This was a serious task given that not finding food, water or shelter meant life or death.
So it seems logical that we evolved to crave this security and we continue to hold on to the feeling even when it’s no longer life or death. You see our lizard brain just wants water, food and shelter and a job provides this, so it’s no wonder we choose to hold on to the illusion of job security. It’s to our benefit, our protection, our self-preservation.
But most of us do not live in life or death situations anymore yet we’re tied to the belief that if we lose our job we would face certain death. Our job is our net, our security blanket, right?
Not So Secure After All
That’s what the people of Plainview, Texas thought. Some of them had been working for the same company for over 20 years. Many hated their job but hung in there because they were almost retired. They felt safe and secure because they worked for the second largest privately owned companies in the world, a company that’s been around since 1865. Talk about security. That is, until the Plainview plant closed the doors in 2013 and over 2000 people lost their jobs overnight.
This same scenario plays out year after year with company after company.
Choices and Repercussions
We all have choices to make and repercussions to accept but what if just for a minute we broke free from the illusion of job security?
We’d then realize that job security is our favorite and culturally acceptable excuse not to follow our dreams of moving to Mexico, of being an artist, of traveling around the world.
What if, just for once, we didn’t have that excuse? Then we’d all have to look in the mirror and face the truth — face our FEAR.
What is the thing you would do if you were not afraid? Move to Mexico? Want to learn from those who came before us. Go HERE.
Saludos,
Fidel
p.s. I wrote this for me as much as I did for you—the reader.
