Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Why would I leave such a place?
[00:00:04] Why would I leave such a little paradise and go somewhere like that where it's scary?
[00:00:15] Hey, I'm Bradley Charbonneau's Thursday Thunder. I'm here every single Thursday recording something hopefully witty, potentially funny, maybe entertaining, maybe a little educating, maybe a little inspiring.
[00:00:28] And here we go. Today it's another sort of metaphor here. This is where I'm staying. I am in outside of Otranto, which sounds like Toronto, but it's very far from Toronto and it's Otranto, Otranto in southern Italy.
[00:00:47] We're on a two week little mission here and a little bit of a secret, but not anymore because I'm telling you, but we are potentially gonna move to Italy next year.
[00:00:59] And honestly, a little scared.
[00:01:03] Hmm. So why am I doing this?
[00:01:07] Why? When I. Here's my story, here's my metaphor. I love metaphors because people understand story. They understand, oh, it's like this.
[00:01:16] So here, nice looking hotel thing. And if you know me, you know, I don't often stay in really nice hotels. I'm really much more about like this.
[00:01:27] I'm a rugged, kind of fun loving, kind of don't spend a lot of money on crazy stuff kind of guy. But it's our last few days. My wife splurged and we're staying in this nice place, right?
[00:01:38] So why am I telling you? Why do you care?
[00:01:41] Here we go.
[00:01:43] Why would I go out this gate?
[00:01:46] Why take the adventure? Why go beyond the comfortable?
[00:01:51] Because this over here, that's comfortable.
[00:01:55] I could just stay there and everything will be easy. And I don't have to change.
[00:02:01] I don't have to do anything really. I think I can just lounge by the pool.
[00:02:07] This is not who I am. And I'm wondering if that's who you are.
[00:02:12] Now don't get me wrong, I love lounging by the pool. We spent a lot of time in the ocean this week. Ocean, sea, whatever it's called, the water this week. And I'm not such a hang out of the water kind of guy, but it's so hot here that it was really nice.
[00:02:30] So I am leaving the grounds of said beautiful hotel and I'm heading out into the unknown.
[00:02:41] Why is this relevant? Why is this important?
[00:02:44] Because this, this is where the change happens when it's a little scary.
[00:02:49] And I, I have to admit if, if you follow me at all, then you'll know I, I've changed a lot. I've done a lot of scary things and yet they're still scary.
[00:03:00] You Know, they talk about being on stage, and I'm on stage a lot, and people say, oh, when do you ever, like, not get nervous anymore?
[00:03:06] I know the answer. It's on my calendar. And that answer is never.
[00:03:10] That's when I'm not nervous anymore or scared. And yet I'm kind of scared about this whole move to Italy thing. And why?
[00:03:19] Part of it, because I am currently comfortable, and I use this word quite suggestively and quite deliberately.
[00:03:29] I have a chapter in my book every single day called the Conundrum of Comfortable.
[00:03:36] And I think if you're okay, things are all right. Things are, you know, things are fine, right? Things are fine. It's fine. It's fine. Then why change, right? Why do something scary? I'm. I'm, I'm leaving the pearly gates of the pretty hotel.
[00:03:57] Why? Why should I do that?
[00:03:59] Why change?
[00:04:01] And I, as you know, or you might know, I write a lot about cats and.
[00:04:07] Okay, is that a hyena? I'm going to zoom in.
[00:04:13] I don't think it's a hyena. If that thing, like, turned its head, I would be running for the hills. It seriously looks like a hyena.
[00:04:21] See? See what's happening? I am making up fears that aren't there. Tell me that's not a hyena. I am making up fears. Maybe it's a zebra.
[00:04:32] I'm.
[00:04:33] There are no zebra or hyenas in southern Italy. I am pretty sure.
[00:04:38] And yet here I am, I'm making up fears that don't exist.
[00:04:44] Sound familiar?
[00:04:46] Why are we talking about this? Bradley, Tell me. Get to the point here. The Conundrum of comfortable.
[00:04:53] I'm comfortable in the Netherlands. I like it there. Things are easy. I know where everything is. It works. It's organized.
[00:05:02] It's Northern European.
[00:05:05] And yet there are exterior forces at play. There are third party interested parties.
[00:05:14] My kids are moving out.
[00:05:16] I'm ready for the next change. We live in this small town that's been great for, like, the kids in the school and all that stuff, but I'm done. I'm like, ready for the next adventure. However, the momentum it takes to make that next adventure happen is going to take getting over some fear, getting over challenges and fears of the unknown. Remember, look how far I am from the gates. Pretty scary, right? And think of this, of your life, right? Let's say that is, we sell our house.
[00:05:48] We sell our house, there ain't no going back, right? I can just walk right back to that gate right now.
[00:05:54] But what if he just kept going and this is scary. I'm not denying that it's scary. It is scary, and yet I'm gonna do it anyway. And why?
[00:06:06] Because I know from experience that the good stuff comes when you overcome the fear.
[00:06:13] And in fact, even the wording, right, overcome fear. Do I really overcome the fear, or am I just sort of sideswiping the fear? Am I just sort of moving alongside the fear? I don't know, but I'm addressing the fear. I'm admitting the fear. I'm scared. It's a big thing.
[00:06:33] Southern Italy. I mean, if you're American, like, I'm an American passport. If you're considering, like, what about the visa issue? I have a Dutch passport, so that solves a lot of the problems, a lot of the challenges, I should say. I have a Dutch passport, so yay.
[00:06:49] So that makes things a lot easier. But still, that's one reason we're down here, is we're sort of shopping around towns and where would we live and what are we going to do? And you know, another, somebody asked me on Facebook, they said, are you. Is this a permanent move?
[00:07:03] And I can tell you right now, I hope nothing I ever do again is permanent move.
[00:07:08] I like moving. I like not knowing where I'm going to be next. That's fun for me.
[00:07:13] I know I'm. That may be different. I know my. My parents lived in the same house for 50 years.
[00:07:19] And that's great. That's great. There are so many advantages to staying in the same place. You get your friends and your family and your life is easy, right? There's so many advantages. I mean, friends and family and, you know, when I leave, I am leaving friends and family.
[00:07:37] So that's a downside. Absolutely.
[00:07:39] But for me, my priority is thus that I want adventure over the upsides of staying.
[00:07:48] That's how I look at it. So when does the upside of the potential fear and potential new life ahead overcome the.
[00:08:01] The comfortable.
[00:08:04] The comfortableness of the current state?
[00:08:08] Right. So when it's like a mathematical equation.
[00:08:11] If I wanted the comfort of the current situation more than I wanted the potential dis. Ease and the uncomfortable. Uncomfortableness.
[00:08:29] Not sure that's a word of the new thing, then I wouldn't do it.
[00:08:36] And yet there, therein lies the mathematical equation. I'm going to do the thing because I. I think that the potential payoff is greater than the risk.
[00:08:49] I've been. I've been playing with the stock market again recently, and it's all the same thing, right? Or even betting. I mean, stock market's a little bit like Vegas, right?
[00:08:59] There's definitely risk involved. So there's a risk involved in what I'm doing and the adventure that I am undertaking. And I am not, not scared.
[00:09:12] Here I am. I ventured away.
[00:09:15] I can still see the thing where I came from. I can see the comfortable.
[00:09:20] And yet I ventured away. And I'm on taking the first steps towards my new future.
[00:09:28] What do you think?
[00:09:29] What do you think of my little story? How does this apply to you? Where are you in your conundrum of comfortable? Do you even have a conundrum of comfortable? Maybe you. Maybe you're not comfortable with where you are in a way. Maybe that's a little easier even. Like, what if you absolutely hate what's going on and you want to change it?
[00:09:46] All right, I got it.
[00:09:49] Hey, I like to keep these under 10 minutes, and I am about at that limit. So let me know in the comments what you think. What's your conundrum of comfortable? Signing off from Southern Italy. See you next time.
