"I am absolutely terrified to move... I truly, truly believe that success lies outside of your comfort zone, and my house has been the greatest comfort zone for me." Lilly Singh
This quote could have come directly from my mom. She just left her beautiful home of 18 years behind. At 88 and with worsening mobility my sister and I wanted her to relocate closer to one of us. After six years of discussion, she chose to return to Denver. Today she lives 63 steps away from my sister in another beautiful home.
When the truckload of furniture and boxes appeared, she seemed enthusiastic. A few hours into the move she faded in the cold, rainy Denver weather.
Five days later all the boxes are empty, everything is hanging, and put away. The house looks like a million bucks. Mom bravely announces she feels depressed, overwhelmed, and out of her comfort zone.
We both know it isn't easy to get this depressed, and mobility challenged lady on the move once she succumbs. Together we define actions she can take to improve her outlook. She isn't one to be powerless. We discuss food, sleep and even taking 63 steps down the street to get kisses from 3 loving grand dogs. She isn't committing to the latter in the cold.
She agrees to a goal to build new zones of comfort by doing one new thing each day. We create lists of all the firsts she can do inside the house, firsts outside the home. She picks one thing a day. I check in daily to hold her accountable.
We are a week into the plan and almost out of to-dos. Mom's voice is enthusiastic. She loves the new house and hanging with my sister. She has yet to take the 63 steps. But she promises to do so before it snows again.