WRITTEN by JOHN MORRIS
“It’s risky… it’s scary… it could all fall apart… but what if it all falls together?”
What if? We have all played this game in our head. As Barney the big purple dinosaur (that I was ‘forced’ to watch with my daughter so many years ago) said, the difference between humans and animals is that we as people have imaginations.
And imaginations lead to ideas and often life-changing decisions.
Often we regret that we did not follow a particular ‘what if’, or… we rejoice in our decision to take that step.
Remember Forest Gump’s explanation of fate?
“I don’t know if we each have a destiny, or if we’re all just floatin’ around accidental-like on a breeze. But I, I think maybe it’s both.”
And you know, I kinda agree. Things happen for a reason right? At least we tend to think so.
For most of us, we face decisions every day from… where do I go for lunch… to maybe I want to move to a Caribbean island. Both sort of important.
As real estate agents, we see and hear it all the time, but we understand because we went through it ourselves. Moving to Roatan is easy… once you decide to do it. It’s the deciding that is the hardest part.
Initially you think about how it will affect your family members. Believe me, the first thing you’ll hear is, “You’re moving to Honduras???!!! Are you crazy?”
“Bring lawyers, guns and money”, as Warren Zevon crooned.
Sure, Roatan is part of Honduras but the island is a far cry from what is being published in the USA media (half of which is also grossly exaggerated).
We moved here and live on this beautiful island because we followed our gut instinct that it was the right decision. No place is paradise, but Roatan gets pretty close.
The other question that always pops up is… “What are the pros and cons of living on the island”? Plenty of pros, not many cons is usually the best answer I can give because it really is a personal thing. Whatever floats your boat!
Seriously, besides the balmy weather and beautiful beaches and vibrant reef, it always comes down to the community that surrounds you. “No man is an island”, as John Donne wrote, even when you are on an island.
And Roatan is a lovely community. My biggest regret is that I did not come sooner.
When I graduated college during the 1982 recession, jobs were hard to find. A classmate of mine took a job teaching high school in St. Thomas. She urged me to join her on this adventure. I came so close to going but chickened out.
What if I had gone? Well, 40-some years later I made it.
In the movie Letters to Juliet, Sophie answers Clair’s long lost letter to Juliet:
“What and If are two words as non-threatening as words can be. But put them together side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life.”
So, if you have a dream to do what I did… consider it carefully because ‘what if’ can become ‘what can be’… and ‘what can be’ can become the answer to that particular ‘what if’.
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