Selling and done with RVing at least for a while

[Ernie n Tara]

I think this thread is demonstrating that man is a family creature and tends very much to stay with what he knows. We lived in North Texas for years and never really became part of the community.  Recently we finally made the move to the rv park we have wintered in for nearly ten years. Here everyone is a newcomer relatively to our NT neighborhood.

Surprise! We have friends here; not  everyone, but a few and a couple of close ones. The secret seems to be that everyone is new and forced to meet new people since they know very few. Obviously, this is a slow process and takes place over years but it  does take place.

Ernie

 

[Larry N.]

My experiences over the years bear out what Ernie is saying. I have moved a lot over the years, even as a kid, and every time we went into a new neighborhood, friends were easy to make, while in older neighborhoods we hardly knew anyone, except maybe in the adjacent houses. This is true in our present location, as well: We built this house over 20 years ago*, and when it was new we knew almost everyone. Now many have moved out, and the even with trying to get to know the newer folks, we rarely have more than a "Hi" association with most of those.


* That's longer than I lived in any one town, let alone any house, before. Isn't retirement wonderful?

 

[Guest]

Thanks everyone

When i moved here i knew that there was going to be a challenge regarding isolation.  So i felt that i was extra cautious not to let things get to me too much.  There have been times that i have spent 3 months pretty much sleeping and that is no embelishment.  I was trying to make ends meet and it was tough.  So for three months last year i didnt go anywhere other than a quick trip to the dollar store if i had money.

I would get up in the morning and eat and go to bed, then get up for lunch and eat and go to bed, and the same for dinner.  But i felt like i had to do that to get by. A sleeping person does not snack or use household items.  It was tough for sure but i made it through that experience.

Then i was able to work outside for the next 6 months or so after winter and that felt great.  Then because of the things that happened around here it didnt feel like home anymore.  One of my good friends in the park moved to the other side of the lake and i expected he would contact me but he has not so i was disapointed that maybe his friendship was fake.  My other friend here works so much i never see them, and that set me in motion to hide myself away again.  For days i wont go outside at all.  I did catch myself yesterday when payday hit i still didnt even want to do anything but stay in this box.  So i knew that was not a good sign so i forced myself to go 35 miles away to the store so i could get away a bit.

As cautious as i thought i was about watching out for isolation negatives, those negatives hit me in a way i didnt expect.  They made me much more sensitive and irratable about things that i would normally not even care about.  I been banging my head against the wall about this drama here lately and wondering why this had to happen to me, and what did i do to deserve being treated like i was.  Its all i thought about, and i was focused on correcting a wrong done to me. Not realizing that i was in fact being effected by isolation and not realizing it.

I realized it when i took that drive, im driving down this beautiful highway with farms and fields and people waving at me and me waving at them and then it hit me how deep i had become in my own prison.  All of a sudden i said to myself "dave there is a whole freaken world out here man - why are you so upset about these little petty drama people around you - find another place there are tons of them in the world"  and i began to smile again for the first time in months, i am still smiling. 

So the drive did me good, and i realize that if some people dont want to get along with me then there are tons of other people somewhere else that will and screw these people around here, there loss not mine. 

I am glad that i caught myself or probably the lord caught me and sent me on that drive most likely, because i was going down a bad road to nowwhere fast and i had no clue because all i saw was this bubble.

I hope that makes sense  

 

[ArdraF]

It does make sense and I'm happy to see you're getting out of that mental funk.  My advice would be to try to get out and about every single day.  You don't have to go far to see faces and say hello to people.  My sister was somewhat isolated after her husband died and she realized she needed to go to the post office, the grocery store, take a walk in the mall, or anything to have human contact.  I wish she had been able to do more - like volunteering somewhere - but she had physical problems and wasn't able.  Take a drive, take a walk, do anything to get out of your box and I think you'll be a lot happier.  Enjoy seeing the birds and the trees and what nature there is around you.

ArdraF