Living away from home and the comforts of having your family and friends around gives you time and opportunity for self-discovery. Working abroad for almost two years now, I have experienced that some days will be good and you feel excited about going to work and meeting new friends, but some days you just want to lay in bed all day thinking of getting a plane ticket, packing your bags and return home.
It is never easy I assure you. When anxiety and loneliness strikes, your hands will be cold, you hear the fast and unsteady beat of your heart, you cannot even feel the ground. It is a constant longing in your soul for something warm and familiar, something like home.
At times like this, I remind myself the reasons why I left my country in the first place. I have lived with my parents for a long time and I realized that I am not getting any younger and I need to be independent. I need to learn how to live on my own, make my own decisions, cook for myself and plan for my future. I have a nice job back then. I am also being paid well but somehow there is a part of me that longs to go further, to test my limits, learn more things and explore my horizons. It is a bold move for the sake of my career growth and self-discovery. Before I graduated in college, it was my ultimate dream to work abroad. By God’s grace, I did and it was such a dream come true.
Above all, I am still grateful for the opportunities that God handed to me, though part of these are the silent cries at night and sacrifices of having to live on my own. Of course, I owe it all to God how I am able to wake up every day and take on the world with renewed strength, faith and hope. I owe it also to my parents for the constant communication. A simple chat with them makes me feel less alone.
It is such an eye-opening and humbling experience for me. You have to put yourself out there every day though your hands are cold and shaking. You have to gain new friends. You have to open yourself to every opportunity and there should be no time in holding back. Anyway, you have already decided to do this anyway, to live in another place and start anew, so why don’t you just enjoy it while it lasts?
Soon, when you have already settled down, you will look back and be proud that you have made it, that once in your life you made a risk and it has made all the difference.
-from KL with love (niobe)
