Hi. My name is Jerry. And I’m addicted to change.

Hi Jerry.

Glad I got that off my chest.

I know I’m not alone (come on expats — fess up).

I’ve seen you out there and you’re just like me.

You get itchy if you go three months without getting on an airplane. Your life is great but you regularly find yourself Googling the next thing. The thought of “settling in” or “planting roots” makes you throw up a little in your mouth.

Go ahead. Admit it. That’s the first step.

Here’s the thing. I don’t think you have a problem. And neither do I.

(spoken like a true addict huh?)

Hear me out.

There is something beautiful about a life filled with change that goes way beyond the the rush of a fresh experience or the high of new culture. I know because I have seen them . . . the veterans . . . the old folks who spent their lives in transit and now, in their twilight, still refuse to sit still.

They never bought into the idea that happiness comes with a plot of land and the things you build on it. They never borrowed someone else’s dream but they chased their own . . . and their’s kept moving.

Guess what.

They’ve still got something to show for it.

They’re not curled up in a ball on a street corner. They’re not lamenting a wasted life.

They’ve got incredible stories, beautiful families, pictures that would make you drool, and rich relationships with people all over the globe.

Not exactly dysfunctional.

To be fair. I’ve seen the other ones too — and just because you’re addicted to change doesn’t mean you’re NOT dysfunctional.

Here are three questions you need to answer to know if you’re on a healthy track or you should check into change rehab.

ONE: Are you a RUNNER?

Is your need for change really just an escape from harder realities that you don’t want to deal with? Does your itch for something new kick in every time things start getting uncomfortable?

Here’s a tip (write this down): That will follow you wherever you go.

You can’t outrun your own issues and they will grow every time you leave in the middle of the hard stuff. Your mess can fly. So every unresolved challenge, every unsettled conflict, every bit of bitterness is bound to show it’s ugly face in the next spot.

No amount of packing up and flying away will ever break you free from your baggage.

TWO: Are you BLAMER?

Think it through. Did you leave the last place because they were hard to work with? Incompetent? Jerkwads?

That happens. I’ll give you one.

But what about the place before that? And the one before that?

If your reasoning for moving always falls in the lap of the people around you then you might want to ponder that for a moment.

I think it was John Maxwell who said, “If Bob has a problem with Joe, and Bob has a problem with Ed, and Bob has a problem with Sam, well then . . .”

Any Guesses?

Yeah. The problem is Bob.

That’s not to say that other people can’t be wrong. They are (universally) and some of them are downright rotten — but dysfunctional addicts are brilliant at shifting the blame.

THREE: Are you a TAKER or GIVER?

When you land in each new place how do you see it? Could you fix them if they would just listen to you? Here’s a tip: That doesn’t make you a giver.

Is there always something missing? Something to complain about? Are the people around just machinery to serve your purposes?

Or

Are you ready to dig in? Listen? Learn something? Pour into people? Add value that goes beyond, “do it my way”?

When you leave, can you honestly say that the place you have been will be better because you were there? Or are you going to take what you can get and move on?

If you are the latter — you should think about settling in somewhere nice, maybe plant some roots because frankly, you’re toxic and you don’t need to spread that around.

Takers shouldn’t travel and they will NEVER get enough. Ironically, givers will ALWAYS come away with more.

So there you go.

Answer those three questions and consider the possibility that your transient nature could actually be a good thing which will have a great impact on a world of people. Quit beating yourself up because a backyard with a picket fence sounds HORRIBLE. There is more than one way to live a wonderful, solid, fully functional life.

Change is inevitable. You might as well love it.

Are you a change addict? Welcome to the group. Tell us your story in the comment section.

There is strength in numbers.