Mary – a proponent of living a well-balanced life and a momma of two expat kids – on her 5 expat truths: trusting the journey and fully experiencing all of life’s emotions – even the hard ones. She has been living abroad for six years.
1. I am no thing.
Eckhart Tolle said that, “no thing ever had anything to do with who we really are.” So while it is a blessing to have all that we need while we’re here, as a teacher living abroad, I know we didn’t come with it all and we certainly won’t be leaving with it all. It’s just stuff. Easy come. Easy go.
2. I’m all in.
Don’t believe everything you see on Facebook. Living abroad – the vibrant, glowy, adventure life – ican be brightly apparent (and easily post-able on Facebook) but life always has its share of shadows too; the sad stuff, the hard stuff. The real gift of life is experiencing all of it. Letting it all in. All of it. Somehow the intensity of life’s extremes makes me feel more human and connected.
3. We’re all a bit of a fixer upper.
There’s a song in Frozen (no not that one) called “Fixer-Upper” and while I am so ready to move on from “Frozen”-mania, every time I hear that little troll song, I am reminded that we all need a little fixing upping from time to time. Imagine how much better the world would be if we could all break into song (in harmony, of course) and proudly admit, “I’m not perfect.”
4. I can create the life I want wherever I am.
When I first moved overseas, I was worried about doing without the things that I enjoyed in my progressive little town in Washington. Baby Yoga. Farm Camp. Farmer’sMarkets. Bike Paths. Earth Day Parades. It took a while, but I finally realized that it wasn’t the actual things I was worried about missing but rather the connection to meeting likeminded people. But somehow, we always find our people, no matter where we go. I guess it was never what I do but who I do it with and how it makes me feel that was important to me.
5. When the going gets tough, trust the journey.
Nothing in this life is promised. What comes to me each moment is what I get and in each of these moments there is a gift. Sometimes it is deeply buried under sadness or frustration, but it’s always there. What has gotten me through every other moment in my life so far will get me through each moment to come. If I trust the journey, I will always be exactly where I am supposed to be.
Photo Credits: Mary Gamache