[dtennent]

Didn't Lincoln say "folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be."?

[justjim]

Originally Posted by dtennent

Didn't Lincoln say "folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be."?

He did…

[DAVES]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

Amazed at the number of people who seem to be miserable living in TV yet choose to remain...

If I was that unhappy living somewhere, I'd leave skidmarks... (no, not THAT kind... )

People are people. We know that or should know that. Is the glass half full or half empty?
It applies to everything. Simple example, some look at a lawn and see only the weeds.

[BigSteph]

I agree in general to "Just Move if you Don't Like It," but this statement is not always possible.

Not everyone can afford or endure another move -- especially as they age.

The next mantra is "You should have known better, researched, rented first!"

Many people don't have the means to come down for several "Lifestyle Visits" or have a season of leisure to rent before buying. Most people I have met all agree that you have to settle your ties and debts before moving here. There are some that maintain lives here and afar, but many homestead.

I suspect if people had unlimited resources and were not happy here, they would find another place to suit them.

Some people, I agree, are in the business of misery -- if not for misery, they would be terribly miserable.

There are a lot of frogs here that don't have the means or energy to find another pond.

Originally Posted by Velvet

Telling someone to move if they are unhappy is for their own benefit. They need to give themselves that option too. Why would they want to stay where they are miserable? One life, it might as well be the happiest one they can have. (Unless, of course they chose to be miserable, always find something to make themselves unhappy.)

The trauma of change can be likened to growing pains, part of getting to something better.

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

Amazed at the number of people who seem to be miserable living in TV yet choose to remain...

If I was that unhappy living somewhere, I'd leave skidmarks... (no, not THAT kind... )

Well, as Mom used to say, "you'd complain if you were hung with a new rope".

(Never did quite figure out what she meant by that...)

[Vikingjunior]

I got a complaint about idiots who give half ass/ misleading titles to their posts so people will click it. This should be a 14 day ban for giving low effort titles to their lame ass posts.

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by BigSteph

I agree in general to "Just Move if you Don't Like It," but this statement is not always possible.

Not everyone can afford or endure another move -- especially as they age.

The next mantra is "You should have known better, researched, rented first!"

Many people don't have the means to come down for several "Lifestyle Visits" or have a season of leisure to rent before buying. Most people I have met all agree that you have to settle your ties and debts before moving here. There are some that maintain lives here and afar, but many homestead.

I suspect if people had unlimited resources and were not happy here, they would find another place to suit them.

Some people, I agree, are in the business of misery -- if not for misery, they would be terribly miserable.

There are a lot of frogs here that don't have the means or energy to find another pond.

I agree with you. I think far too many people get to the point where the northern winters are just too much to handle and they hear about TV and come down and fall hopelessly in love with what they see. They buy on a whim and find out later t that TV is not for them, and then it is too late. The cost of homes in the Northeast is astronomical compared to Florida and they find they are stuck.

[DAVES]

Originally Posted by Bonanza

Nothing in this life is 100%, be it good or bad. There are many accolades that fit the lifestyle of living in TV, but is it perfect? Of course not and far from it. While much of the negativity is true we can still benefit from it by trying to make whatever it is better.

The simple change in someone's lifestyle from moving from a completely different environment can be traumatic for some. But telling them to move somewhere else is disgraceful and about as negative as one can get!

I proudly have a strange view of most things. Friendship. For me my definition of a friend is someone who can tell you, you are wrong and you realize perhaps they are right. It is done in private.

"Benefit from trying to make things better." Read through the posts. Few have a solution. Most are I am right and you are wrong. Reality, things will never be perfect.

Many people do not even see the negative consequences of what they think is a solution.

"Telling people to move somewhere else." Back to reality. For all, if, you would be happier somewhere else, you owe it to yourself to move there.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

Amazed at the number of people who seem to be miserable living in TV yet choose to remain...

If I was that unhappy living somewhere, I'd leave skidmarks... (no, not THAT kind... )

Perfect example of an individual's happiness driver (living location) being projected onto everyone else's happiness driver, and therefore the solution of moving to a new location as an unhappiness solution.

Human behavior is generally much more complex and subconscious than what is visible.

Most likely, if the person's unhappiness is rooted in their environment, and they can change it, they will. If not, the unhappiness is not rooted in their environment, but the negative complaints about the environment is symptomatic of some other unhappiness which they are no longer willing to fix.

So moving will not fix their unhappiness, as its not rooted in their environment, but is just a symptom. . . most likely in retirement, its a symptom of the end of the fun, and being now trapped in a place they never imagined they would. . a loss of some view of life . . .

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

Amazed at the number of people who seem to be miserable living in TV yet choose to remain...

If I was that unhappy living somewhere, I'd leave skidmarks... (no, not THAT kind... )

I guess it depends on what you mean by "miserable living in TV."

By that do you mean:

people who look at what was considered weeds where they came from, and miss the grass?

people who are confounded that they have to wash the outside of their house every few months to get the mold off the siding?

people who would love nothing more than to sit in the back yard watching the sunset but are viciously attacked by fire ants?

people whose only previous experience with cockroaches were the little ones in their studio apartment that they shared with 2 other people in a city walk-up during their senior year of college, and now are seeing the "big guys" raiding the fridge and making themselves at home on the couch?

people whose previous community involved a majority of drivers who used their turn signals consistently and correctly?

people whose previous community did NOT involve a bunch of political nuts plastering "This guy sucks" on their bumper stickers and golf cart windshields and raising "this guy sucks" flags on their flagpoles?

people who didn't need deed restrictions to know that it was important to maintain their yard, and that an entire block of white crosses was actually offensive to some of the neighbors so maybe put those things in the back yard instead?

people who are more concerned about their freedoms and rights than peaceful cohabitation with their neighbors?

My -neighborhood- where I live right now, is mostly peaceful, we get along, we help each other.

But there's one guy who has a big ugly metal trailer on his driveway - been there for a couple of months, with no sign of them preparing to move it. It's a storage trailer. OUR deed restrictions don't prohibit this. And yet - he's the only one in the entire section of the Villages where it's "allowed" that has one. Why is that? To me, it's because - he doesn't give a flying fart about the rest of the neighborhood. He's allowed, so dammit he'll do what he wants and to heck with everyone else.

We have another who has parties at their house every week, which would be okay except their pals block the driveways of the houses next to them, they're loud and obnoxious, none of them are over 50 (let alone 55), and they're slovenly. They don't -care- that their neighborhood, while modest in quality, makes some attempt at keeping the properties maintained and looking decent, and that they are the ONLY neighbors in the entire neighborhood that are like this.

They live in their own worlds, and don't care that the entire rest of the neighborhood has to deal with them. They don't care that their next door neighbor has to endure seeing the guy sitting in his lounge chair with no shirt, in his boxers with an open front fly, displaying his altogethers to whoever walks past or happens to be out in their OWN lanai next door, just trying to enjoy the weather with a cup of coffee.

I shouldn't have to move. I was here before those people. And if I moved every time I met a neighbor I didn't like in life, I'd be living in a tent somewhere by myself.

You can't pick your neighbors. Sometimes you're just stuck with them, like it or not. You can't choose who will drive in front of you on the road. Sometimes you're just stuck with morons who don't know their left from their right. You can't choose who will drive anywhere near you - there will be pieces of crap who will insist on paying attention to their cell phone instead of the road while they cut in front of you and come to a complete stop in the middle of the road, because they need to yell at their spouse who forgot to replace their hearing aid battery and can't hear what she's saying.

Does this make me miserable all the time? Of course not. I'm mostly a happy person. Does it make me feel miserable during the individual incidents? You bet. It harshes my mellow. Do I get over it? Yup, sure do. Usually a few minutes later.

Does it mean I should leave? Nope.

Does it mean you have to be able to relate to it? Nope.

I am, however, amazed by people who are incapable of comprehending why some folks have - human responses - to human experiences.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

this brings up the question, with modern medicine, is a quick and sudden death now better than a very slow and drawn out decline?

ooof. . . .

[MrFlorida]

I had a co worker like that, we called her Mrs. Miserable. Everything was negative. We avoided her like the plague, or now days like Covid....Life is what you make it...

[davem4616]

The older I get the more the lyrics to Johnny Mercer's song Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive make sense to me

"You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between..."

[DAVES]

Originally Posted by Madelaine Amee

I agree with you. I think far too many people get to the point where the northern winters are just too much to handle and they hear about TV and come down and fall hopelessly in love with what they see. They buy on a whim and find out later t that TV is not for them, and then it is too late. The cost of homes in the Northeast is astronomical compared to Florida and they find they are stuck.

Not at all so. Cost of homes actually has gone up throughout the nation. Perhaps, more so in Florida. My point. Assuming you lived up north and wish to return. You can sell your home in the Villages for more than you paid for it and buy a northern home, similar to what you had. You will not only sell your villages home for more than you paid for it but the northern home will cost you more than your sold yours for.

People are only stuck if they stick themselves. Happiness is a choice. People are happy and miserable by their own choice.

Snow is pretty except when you need to get to work. I still remember my OLD snow blower that ran great all summer but refused to run in the snow. Perhaps, it had more sense than I did. I remember our neighbor from across the street coming over with hot cocoa. I got rid of my snow shovels. When, I got here I bought a manure shovel.
This time was I to DECIDE to move I would take it. It would work fine in the snow.
Northern Ice scrapers. Tough to find in Florida. They are perfect for scraping love bugs off your windshield.

HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE.

[cypress]

Left out is the case where one spouse loves it and the other hates it. Which one gets to enjoy life?