Don’t Like Lawton? You Don’t Have To Stay

As we grow older, people tend to realize that life is too short to be unhappy all of the time. Though, if you look around social media enough, you'll know this is one of those lessons some people never learn.

For some people, being unhappy is the cornerstone of their personality. They are drawn to drama out of sheer boredom in their own life, but there is good news... It doesn't last forever. Most people mature to a point where they consider their life to be content.

Used to be, kids were the change in a person's life that put petty things into perspective. A person would be too tired to seek out drama, and in the early days of social media, the sharing of way too many kid pics would fill the void left by a drama-free lifestyle... but that's not enough these days. Social media connects us all together twenty-four hours a day, so you can be upset as soon as your babies lay down for the night.

We've talked about it before, how people now try to shape and redefine their boring personalities with drama. Condition Karen. It's where everything upsets you and you feel the need to let everyone know just how upset you were in an attempt to gain empty empathy from people you don't even know. Everyone wants to feel like an emotional victim, that's the gist of it anyway.

Just look around, you'll see it. In the off-chance you don't see it, odds are you're living it.

I know that's a long way around the barn to get to the actual point the moral of the story, but if you are unhappy living in Lawton, there is nothing holding you here.

You can move away at any given time. I know this because I've done this in every place I've ever lived.

I was once trapped in this circular thought process of "Well, I'll be happier when I get to (the next town)." Always living in my self-loathing thoughts of "There's nothing to do here..." "It's sooo boring..." "The crime is out of control in this hellhole..." You're not alone in those thoughts. Everyone regardless of where they live has those same thoughts about the places they've lived.

I can already hear you... "Well I've got family here..." "My job is here..." "I can't leave (insert reason)..." and I hate to pop your balloon, but that's just making up reasons to keep living in your drama-filled, emotionally shallow bubble of a world.

It's nothing personal, I don't say that with malice or hatred. We're just having a real grown-up discussion because I want you to live a life as happy as I do. So if I bare a little of my own feels as an example, and that makes you realize something true about your own, it's a good thing.

Here is the biggest truth I've learned in a lifetime spent moving from town to town... There are no boring places to live, only boring people that live there.

Like I said, I always looked to my next stepping stone in life and thought "Life will be better there." But the realization is that a town is just a location and no matter where it is, they're all the same. I lived in two of the biggest cities in America and thought they were just as boring as the small 15,000-population Texas town I began adulthood in. That's when I realized, I was just a boring person.

The life you live is inside each one of us. Life is the memories we create, and the happiest lives have the happiest memories. When was the last time you did something that left you with a good memory? Keep in mind, don't confuse entertainment with emotional satisfaction. It's not a movie or a concert. It's the feeling you experienced while at that movie or concert, or maybe it was the company with who you shared that experience.

If you're still hanging in there, kudos to you. I'm really just rambling on because I don't want my words to be heard and simplified to "If you don't like Lawton, get out." That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that if you're unhappy in Lawton, you'll be just as unhappy anywhere else you live. Moving to a different city and leading the same life won't improve your situation one bit. Sure, you may be able to fill your inner void with things to do, but if you've ever had a long vacation, you know that's only a temporary fix.

I'm also not saying that Lawton is a great place to live. It's not that simple either. I like it, but that doesn't mean things here are wonderful. Between the traditional Good-ole-Boy network, idiotic and out-of-touch ancient politicians, wasteful spending of tax dollars, etc... there's plenty of work to be done, but you'll find that everywhere. It's not like Lawton is the only city in America with elected leaders that make all the wrong decisions. Every city has those, just ask anyone that lives there.

Humans don't live in locations, we live in our souls. Moving to a different city won't make you happier, you'll just continue to be miserable in a new place... but if you really, truly believe it's the town, nothing is keeping you here.