Running Away From Life

i used to, when i was younger.

now i feel like i've grown into myself and who i am and how i fit into this world - and i own it. it's amazing how much we evolve... nowadays, i'd much rather face it & get it over with than to have life chasing my heels wherever i run.

I've definitely felt like running away from my life...to where, though, I have no idea. While my sisters, mother, and I are extremely close, the rest of my family seems incredible selfish and dysfunctional. And that bothers me more than I would like it to. I have very high expectations when it comes to family...because in my eyes, family is where it's all. That's where love and values come from. As I get older, though, I'm also finding that things happen for a reason and sometimes you just have to move on.

I totally have - at least for a bit. It doesn't help obviously, at least not if you stay there, but sometimes it provides the extra insight and knowledge to take a real look at the situation.

I've never run away from life or wanted to. Everything happens for a reason and it will lead to new things. Some good, some bad, but I find everything works out. Even the sad things.

I think of a good, absorbing story (book or movie) as a way to get all the benefits of running away-- a new perspective,

I don't want to run away from my life, but it would be nice if other people ran away from me for a little while. My idea of a perfect vacation is a week at home alone. It will never happen - maybe that is why I crave it so much.

I got sick a few years back and felt absolutely miserable. I was in my 20s and couldn't relate to all of the people in my life that were healthy and well. I definitely wanted to escape, but of course there was nothing I could do. Eventually I learned to count my blessings and thankfully by the grace of God my health improved. I learned that it's important to think of all of the good things in life rather than focusing on the bad things. It's the best way to get through bad times.

While I have never physically run away from my life, I often find that when I am stressed I like to run away mentally--usually by writing, day dreaming, or reading a book. It usually tides me over for a while :)

I don't know how I would ever have dealt with the tragedy that Guy faced, but I'm sure I would run away somewhere. Where I would go, I don't know. I know it would be somewhere small and isolated - and I get that desire Guy has. Fortunately, this isn't something I've had to think about thankfully!

I have no idea where I would go, too many people depend on me where I am. I would probably never run away from my life, but rather deal with it internally on my own.

I could completely understand Guy's desire to run away after his daughter died and his marriage falls apart. It would be so hard to deal with and I think the grief would be too much that you would just want to leave everything behind. There are times that even now I wonder what could have been.... but I try to remember the good times and push through the trials to see what good ends up on the other side.

I think we all have that urge to run and we lose the ones we love sometimes it makes it much harder to stay. I think the loss of a child would bring me so much uncontrollable grief that I would need to run. Would I be daring the ocean? I don't know but I would have a hard time starting over.

Don't we all at some point or another want to run away? See what the alternative might have been? I'm very happy in my life now, but I occasionally wonder what else my life might have held if I'd made different choices in my past. But would I change anything? No.

Occasionally, my husband & I joke about just "running away together" to get away from life's problems, but of course we quickly remember our responsibilities and ultimately stay put to fight through the roughness life throws at us. However, if we did run away, a deserted island is our top choice. Just the two of us, to enjoy life together :)

I did run away from my life. At the age of 44, I left my hometown, my family, friends, a job of 20 years, everything I had ever known to move with my (then new) husband 600 kilometres away.

I was running to happiness, not away from sadness but it is an interesting perspective to think that I ran away.

It is still the best thing I ever did. Without question I would not have photography, art, writing in my life without that "seachange"

I have thought at some points it would be nice to run away and hid in some foreign country that would be beautiful and no one would know my name. But I somehow always come to realize that life would find me there too. I don't think you can ever really run away. Life has a way of catching up to you and the same problems or fears you ran from will present themselves again.

Yes, yes I have wanted to run away from my life - at so many points. There were times when the best place to run away to seemed to be death even. Luckily, I'm in a better place now, and though there are still days I want to run away, it's a more temporary running away - to an island in the Bahamas, perhaps. Or a cabin by a lake. Something with nature and water and little to no contact with people - except those I want to contact.

In Junior High I wanted more than anything to move and start over... with or without my family. I've settled for 15+ years in 3 different cities and each was an adventure in and of itself... and each was "running away" from the life I'd left behind.

Now, though, I am content. I couldn't imagine living anywhere but Tucson, which has nurtured and loved me and which is keeping me warm and sunny today while the rest of the world if cold and gloomy. I would love to run from the sorrows... but then I'd miss the joys.

Guy was lazy, taking the easy way out, living in his fantasy. I will not do that.

a/b

I "ran away" about a year ago -- I picked up everything I had after 4 years in DC and moved to NYC on my own. Looking back, it was one of the most impulsive things I've ever done. And this year has been one of the best and hardest of my life. Turns out that you can run as far as you want, but it's like trying to ditch your shadow. Whatever you're running away from is always right behind you. I definitely understand Guy's need to leave, but when he started to do it again --- and left the other boat without saying goodbye --- I got angry.

To an alternate universe where everything is the same but appreciating isn't something I have to learn. Oh, and can I swap out my current partner? Kidding. Kind of.

Sure, I have definitely wanted to run away. I can think of at least a half dozen times during high school when I wanted to just take off. Where would I have gone? Not sure. I just remember the urge to be anywhere but where I was, thinking life was "so hard." Teen angst, I guess!

I don't necessarily dream about running away, I dream about hitting pause. The kind of 'pause' like in the movie "Click" with Adam Sandler, where you can pause the scene, but still move around within it. I would like to just be able to sit quietly, without any time passing.

There have been times in my life when I've had *enough*. When I was younger, I remember having the feeling of wanting to run away. Being older and having more experience with life, I think its such a weak thought. Running away never solves problems, just postpones them and usually makes them worse to deal with later...

I sort of ran away from my life at the age of 13, when my family moved from LA to Chicago. Although it wasn't something I had control over, I *wanted* to get away, and I reinvented myself for the good. The problem with running away is who you choose to be at your new destination might not always be better.

I think wanting to run away is natural. (Maybe I should say I hope it's natural!) When things get stressful with (extended) family or our current house, I think about going (with my immediate family) somewhere and just starting over. I'd love to live somewhere close to water, somewhere warm so our kids could play outside all year round. Sigh.

I sometimes think about running away and starting over but know, once settled and re-grouped, I'd probably just want to run away again!

A great book or movie is my way of escape...

I think we have all wanted to run away from life at some time. In Sea Change Guy headed out to the sea. I am not really an ocean kind of girl (which is why I live in Colorado). I would run away to a cabin in the mountains where there would be nothing but blue sky, pine trees and the sound of a trickling stream.