I move to a place, learn things, make friends, bids adieu
with everyone I knew to take off to a new city quite quickly and start it all
over again! This has been happening ever since I remember. It’s nice to recall
my life in 6 schools, four different cultures and quite a handful of places,
though not as easy as it sounds. Every three year we move to a city because of
my dad’s job and I would be preparing myself to get used to the environment, school
and will start making friends in no time because I knew I only had three more
years to experience all these before I could take off. Yes! It was quite scary
to be part of the mystical maze of meeting new faces, learning the culture, leaping
over the linguistic barriers in mastering the art of being a local in the new
place. But, the scariest part is letting go! Leaving a place you have lived in
and loved, that gave you the best memories and taught you the things that you
never had or made you a person that you never were. Packing my stuffs, changing where I walk, finding
a friendly soul, waking up in a slightly different place once in every three
years was indeed tough. But every cloud has a silver lining! I loved the hidden
benefit of moving. Somewhere a new you will start-over all again, from becoming
a better friend or reforming yourself to better shape or who you want to be in
the current chapter of your move. Gradually I began to experience the blessing
in disguise. Hence, I made a promise,
promise to myself that whenever I leave I take a little of everyone and
everything with me and leave something of myself behind!!
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| Photo courtesy : www.freedigitalphotos.net |
And, here it goes ….
Out of your comfort zone
A comfort zone is a heavenly place, it feels great and you
feel the happiest but unfortunately nothing grows there! We need to come out of
it to see how accommodating we are to the circumstances around us. It feels
awful when life is stuck in a rut and those who are resistant to change loses
the opportunity to experience how big the world is. Expanding your comfort zone
gives the guts to break the artificial self-image that you have built for
yourself and for the things around you, opening your mind to handle unfamiliar
situations and things out of your safety net. Moving to a new city requires us
to push our limits giving greater insights on who you are and what you want. Go
that extra mile to learn the language and culture. The excitement of finding a
friendly face, experimenting the local cuisine, locating a suburban train route
had never been boring!
Learn and grow
Re-invent and revive yourself! A life-changing leap gives
you abundant opportunity to widen your horizon and opens you up to new perspective
of life. Creativity is unleashed with the exposure to new customs, culture and
people. Joining a language class will now be on your ‘To-do’ list rather than
the ‘wish-list’. Learn an authentic recipe from a local yokel and try it with
your twist. For better or for worse, you are always considered as an outsider
which allows you to escape from the traditional inhibitions and do things that
you always wanted to do. After all, as a newcomer your actions are never
considered absurd. Well, that I call the trick of the trade!
Make Friends
I cannot imagine where I will be today without those bunch
of friends who had given me joy and made my life easier. Moving places will get
you super friends everywhere. What more can feed your networking skills? Don’t
fret about loneliness or hide in the corner. You could wake up and bask in the
spotlight with those huge number of loyal friends you have made in each step of
your move. Let’s face it, either you get to enjoy a lifelong friendship or you
can regret for the wrong choices. Lose that extra baggage by letting go of the
wrong people and pick on the ones that are worth carrying along for the rest of
the life. Getting hold of the most important people will assure you a
life-changing friendship.
Memories
It’s never been this cheap to travel! You reap the benefits
of travelling while you have the unique privilege to create your own travel
memories in each of the place you move. Planning trips in and around the city
or town you stay gives you nice stories to tell people afterwards. The face of
your friendly neighbour, your favourite restaurant, the street you choose every
time you come back from work, those countless local festivals you enjoyed being
of part are some of the captured moments to treasure. The moment one of your
old friend calls, you turn nostalgic and start conversing in the language you
once learnt. That’s how strong your memory stays.
Live and love
A decision to take the plunge will let you follow your
dreams – work or personal front. Such a change will offer you a unique chance
to live the wonderful chapter of your life. It will direct you to a world of
opportunity, right from finding your dream job, falling in love and settling
decisions. And believe me, there are wrong turns too which ultimately make you
come back to where you began. After all, there is no place like home!!
