I think sometimes we take for granted that we only have a short time on this earth. Some of us, if we’re lucky will live to experience more of the world than others. Most likely, even then, we will take for granted what that means. Not everyone gets to leave the country they were born in, to fly to faraway places and experience the things that those lands have to offer. Some of us, might even find that those places appeal to us more than the land in which we were born. So we settle down. We build a house, a home, a life. We have families and we find careers. All the while unaware of how lucky we are.

After a while, the lucky ones forget. They forget the place they left behind, they forget the people they left behind and they forget how ordinary everything was before. In the new land, the lucky ones begin to exist. Day to day. They’ve given up on the passions that once inspired them, on the adventures that once beckoned. They start to spend their evenings on the couch, watching shows that add nothing to their lives. These evenings on the couch turn to weekends. Hours are spent at home. Alone, perhaps. Doing nothing of any importance.

The ones left behind, they may have regrets and they may not. They may wish they had been as lucky as the lucky ones. Perhaps they see themselves as the lucky ones. It isn’t easy starting a new life somewhere else. Oh those poor souls they may think. Everything back home is simple. Everyone knows everyone and you’re never alone on a Friday night. Even. When. You. Want. To. Be. The ones left behind know that it’s comforting to have support. To never feel alone. To never wonder where to go when things get tough. The lucky one’s may have developed by now, new support systems. They may have made new friends, they may spend weekends with these friends. They may depend on these friends for comfort in difficult times. They may rely on these friends for advice.

The lucky and the ones left behind, are often more similar than they imagine. Without even realising it, they have the same dreams of adventure, of success, of love. Of living fully. They are always wondering, what if and perhaps. What if I had never left, what if I left now. What if I was home, what if I was faraway. So you see, sometimes we can’t tell who the lucky ones really are. The ones who get away or the ones who never leave.

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