My Vendetta Against Complacency: Goodbye Aus, Hello USA!

After spending 13 months in Australia, it has finally come time to say goodbye. Grieving the end of one chapter of life while simultaneously feeling ecstatic about the next is a confusing emotional state to navigate. It helps that I’ve traveled these roads before. Many times in fact.

My adult life has been a series of hellos, goodbyes, and new beginnings as I hop contract to contract, taking full advantage of the freelance world. Each new beginning comes with the tingling thrill of what I’ll discover, learn, and experience next. The warm jolts of dopamine work to  overshadow the bubbling anxiety of being hurled back into the unknown.

 Spoiler alert: it’s been worth it every time.

I recently had the pleasure of talking with Don Macavoy for his podcast, Don’t Worry I’m Finite. Click HERE for the episode.

One of the final questions he asked me was, “What do you want to be remembered for?”

My subconscious spewed out:

“Never settling for complacency.”

My conscious has been getting to work dissecting exactly what this means.

Complacency defined by dictionary.com:

a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.

I define complacency as being so comfortable, settled, and confident in an idea, job, relationship, passion, way of thinking, etc. that you are unaware of the possibilities, both good and bad, that surround you. It leads to oversight, mistakes, and close mindedness.

I’ve fallen into the clutches of complacency on numerous occasions. Becoming complacent in shows, jobs, and opinions have respectively led to injury, major flubs, and ignorance. Such errors elicited a palm to the forehead, but served as valuable learning opportunities.

The consequences aren’t always so noticeable. More subtle symptoms of complacency are lethargy, doing the bare minimum to get by, disengagement, disinterest in things you used to enjoy, and no initiative. Over the past three months, I was coming down with these symptoms. Australia is a stunning country with so much adventure to be had. But without the legal ability to work, I was confined to my online job. I stared to feel stuck and uninspired.

Succumbing to complacency is a poisonous recipe for missing opportunities and waking up at 80 wondering how life flew by so fast.

So I’ve embarked on an intense vendetta against complacency to live out a life I truly love living.

I’ve moved in and out of countless apartments, I’ve had more jobs than I can count, I have traveled the world, I’ve connected with amazing people, and I have worked my ass off to have incredible experiences that I never dreamed I would have.

Now, don’t be fooled by my social media feeds of beaches, waterfalls, and giant chunky cookies. It’s not all rainbows, butterflies, and treats. There have been setbacks and tough times riddled with anxiety and depression. The fight against complacency isn’t always easy, but the reward is always worth while.

There are two major things I’ve learned along the way:

1. It will never be the right time to make a change.

There are always reasons to avoid change. A sublease to break, a job to quit, a  person to let down. Waiting for the stars to perfectly align could mean waiting forever. That’s not a timeline I love.

2. It will always be scary.

Big changes have always terrified me. Every time I sign a new contract, close an apartment door one last time, or hop on a one way flight, the fear that comes with heading into the unknown sinks in. The unknown is, well, unknown. What if it’s not worth it? What if  I fall short? What if I just quit the perfect job? Did I make a huge mistake?

These fears don’t go away, but the trust and confidence in my decision making gets stronger and stronger.

Some might say that I should dig deep rather than chase external experiences. But I’m only 28 years old. Each new chapter has led to tremendous growth and personal progress. I’m not running away from anything. I’m running towards becoming a better version of myself. (Check out my musings over the question, “What Am I Doing With My Life?” HERE.)

What’s next?

Saying goodbye to Australia is hard. Saying goodbye to Jeremy for 3 ½ months is even harder. Hard goodbyes are bittersweet way of knowing just how important, impactful, and meaningful a person and place are. But there are exciting things brewing for the future.

I’ve got some family time, NYC living, and Mexico on the horizons. Stay tuned for the journeys ahead, I’m just as curious as you to see where I end up next. (Hint: be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss anything!)