Life is good. Life is easy.  Everyone is healthy, and your relationships are sailing along smoothly.  And then one morning you awake with a vague sense of dread.

At first, you think perhaps you've forgotten something silly: an overdue library book, a two-day-old load of whites quietly moldering away in the washer.  After several days, you feel the sensation morph into an uncomfortable realization that a change is coming.  You can feel it in the air - your bones - in your sleep; Waiting for the other shoe to drop.  A career change? A move? Family issues?

The handy thing about that uncomfortable waiting? When something bad happens, you're ready for it. You breathe a sigh of almost-relief.

Almost.

We are there right now -- facing career changes AND a move! My husband and I are young and childless and free to change our scenery at any time. We never seemed to put down strong roots in our current location, and we plan to head for a sunnier town that has family and some fresh ocean air.

While we search for jobs from afar, the two of us are getting to spend the most time together we have Ever Had.  I am reminded that I married a helpful, loving man with a snarky sense of humor that had been buried away under loads of stress.  His job had him working so many hours and he would come home late and spend his off day trying to decompress.  With newly found free time on our hands, we are cooking dinner, having deep conversations about our future  and going for long walks together.

Yesterday as we enjoyed our town's greenway, we came to a natural lull in the conversation. A comfortable silence enveloped us as we walked amid a tunnel of trees, the sounds from the picnic area  hushed by the canopy of leaves.  I fell a few steps behind and watched my husband stride forward with purpose, and I felt a flood of gratitude and peace.

Just as I knew before that something bad was coming, now I feel that we are finally headed in the right direction.

The silver lining.