Settlement

The UK border agency uses settlement, resident, and indefinite leave to remain interchangeably, but Webster does not:

Settle - To place so as to stay; to make quiet or orderly
Resident - living in a place for some length of time; not migratory
Indefinite leave to remain is permission to stay without any time restrictions

To settle is a cause; to be resident is an effect; leave to remain is an indulgence.

Late last night, as I was walking home, I sat on a park bench under a full moon and watched the clouds flow in one direction, the Thames flow in another, and while I can appreciate the physics that cause them to move with purpose, I also understand they have no idea where they are going. 

I have been granted leave to remain because I am resident, but I am not settled. I move with purpose to mask my lack of direction. I plan the weeks because I can't plan the years. I get older but no wiser. There was a time I mocked the water, believing myself the master of my own destiny, until it picked me up and flung me to the far side of the world.

I thought I would be very happy when I achieved this milestone, but it turns out it only reminds me of all the other milestones I've missed.