how do i adjust to fulltime ?
Dear Sylvia,
Yes it does get better,, eventually,.. but it will get worse before it gets better..
The hardest part is letting go.. Do you remember when that good friend or maybe it was a family member who died and how it hurt ? Well, believe it or not, going fulltime and leaving your familiar nest and it's surrounding is just as bad.
For the first year it's going to be tough. But as time goes on your body and mind slowly adjusts to the fact that you no longer have some of the things you once thought you could not live without.
That set of dishes that you got from your mom or the big comfortable recliner chair that the kids got you for your birthday... they meant something special to you, but they won't fit in to the RV.
The friends that you have known all those 29 years will no longer be next door for you to run over and borrow a cup of sugar or an egg... or maybe to just lean over the backyard fence and gossip with once in a while.
BUT ......... Those people whom you will meet on the road as you travel will soon become your friends,, no they won't replace the old friends, nor should they.. but these new friends will soon become as dear and near to you as the old ones do..
May I suggest that you don't give everything away all at once... why not "LOAN" it to the kids with the notice that you may want it back some day. Some of the stuff that you simply cannot under any circumstances get rid of, put it in a storage shed for that first year.. and each time you come back to the shed, I promise you will find something else that you don't really need as bad as you thought.
Will you truly enjoy the new path that you have chosen to walk ?? You can only find out by taking that first step out of the nest. Try not to be afraid too much, I know it's a very hard thing to do, but you did it many times before.. remember?? .... when you left your parents home that first time and moved in with a person who you were to spend the rest of your life with.. and what about when your own children grew up and left your home, away from your protective blanket that you had them wrapped in while they were growing up..
You can do it Sylvia, there are many folks out there who are more than willing to help when its needed and to hold your hand when that little doubt of fear comes sneaking in the back door.. All you have to do is ask...
Best wishes and remember the old Chinese proverb.... "The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step"
John