So far, this year has been one of the best in a long time. No longer do I feel alone and I am with someone who seems to support my goals to pay off debt and my attempts to find a next step. At this point, I'm eagerly thinking one of my next steps will be a move to this neighboring city.

Beyond my rush to settle down, there are benefits to staying put. Some of these are:
1) Free Gym with work
2) Bottomless cup of coffee/decaf at work
3) Ability to wait out economic uncertainties
4) Ability to wait out real estate uncertainties

This afternoon, I was thinking about selling my current house and then I thought: Why? It would generate a nice bit of income after I moved. It would be only 2 hours away if something were needed.

A friend said, why sell - you could keep it as a backup if things don't work out.

And I thought to myself, I'm not doing this for it not to work out.

Over the weekend, I woke up in the middle of the night and sat up, thinking.

What's wrong? He asked, a voice in the dark.

I once read about these tests conducted on dogs. Maybe it was Pavlov, maybe it was someone else. They placed a dog in a cardboard box and zapped them with small electrical currents - not enough to hurt them; only to make them uncomfortable. Then they took out one side of the box and did it again. Half the dogs figured out how to escape; but the other half stayed put, whimpering.

Are you worried about change? He said.

Maybe.

You know that I'm all yours. Don't you?