Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Watching a Globe Trekker episode this morning, the presenter was traveling the Yangtze River and explaining the impact of the Three Gorges Dam. At the time of the filming a few years ago, the dam had not yet been completed, and had not flooded the surrounding areas. After its completion, whole cities and villages were completely flooded by the dam, resulting in the relocation of millions of people. They had no choice: they had to leave. The dam has many pros and cons. Pros include less greenhouse gas emissions due to hydroelectric power and more shipping routes, reducing the need for polluting ground vehicles. However, species have been killed and archeological sites are underwater. And, of course, many people had to change their entire lives.
The presenter traveled to a remote village due to be flooded, where she asked a local resident (via the help of the resident's English-speaking daughter), how the local felt about being re-located. She simply replied "I have to go."
Maybe this is an homage to the local philosophy, or just this one woman's resignation, but my reaction was that this woman was completely justified in saying what she did. There was no alternative for her: this was reality. She wasn't going to stop the dam, and she couldn't stay. Her life had to move to another place.
Applying this to my far less dramatic situation of relocation, I realize that although I do want to move, it is still a daunting task. Roots can grow deep and in-penetrable, and it takes a special kind of machinery to dig them up. Not only the financial obligations of owning a property that currently cannot be sold due to the fallen house prices of the economy, but also jobs that must be found else where and the logistics of starting over again.
Unlike the lady living in the Yangtze River, I do have a choice whether to leave or stay, because the city in which I currently reside is not being flooded by a dam. But metaphorically, it kind of is. I have every reason to leave (meaning the machinery standing by to dig) and strong roots waiting to be dug up. My only decision now is when to start the motor on the digging machine.
Sometimes I feel as if moving is out of my control: that I must wait on someone to say yes and someone to say no and for this to happen, etc. But all this is ultimately of my own persuasion. I make the decisions. So all I can say is, that the reason I haven't physically moved yet it because I haven't yet dug up my roots. I want to, I need to, I have to....the deadline for the "flooding" is drawing near, I can feel it.
One note: when the Globe Trekker presenter was visiting one of the cities due to be flooded, there were signs posted all around with how many days till the city would be underwater. This was a constant reminder to the inhabitants that their time there was soon coming to an end. Don't we have a constant reminder every day, with a ticking clock, with a calendar square we cross through, with a diary entry, that our days are, in fact, limited? Do we ultimately have a choice to stay where we are? No. We have to move on. There is no other choice. And so I find myself, contemplating the difficulties of moving, and realizing it is just a metaphor for a greater concept: time in general. What we do with our time. How we embrace change. Sometimes we freely accept change, and sometimes in comes in the way of change evacuating us from our current lives.
The question "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" is just like the question asked of the Yangtze River resident. There is only one answer, "I have to go." And that's scary, but it's also exciting, and regardless of what one thinks about the dam, and the impending flood, we have to keep moving.