How living in a foreign land matters- an experience

Living in a new country on your own is something to experience once in your lifetime. With everyone you know thinking that you are having the best time of your life, you might be going through a feat on your own by coping with the culture of the place, its rules and regulations, and most importantly, finding new connections.

Living on my own has helped me jump out of my comfort zone and enjoy my freedom, which has made me find a lot about myself. When you start to appreciate yourself, you will even be able to celebrate your own birthday alone!

At some point in life, everyone goes through a phase of anxiety and trauma that hits them in varying degrees and angles. Me, coming from a foreign land, found my first few years very challenging to adapt to the central European culture. Though I appreciate the idea of more personal space compared to what I had in India, my home country, connecting with people required tremendous effort from my side, which wasn't easy and not one of my memorable moments. When going through tough times, I realized that there was no one noticing my struggles, as if almost invisible. Being generally shy to ask for help, I thought of helping myself out by doing small fun things alone.

At this point, on one fine day, I decided to embrace the immense personal space that I had to explore. I started by taking short visits and hikes across Switzerland, where I lived, which made me discover the immense beauty of the place in a new light. It was scary at first for a foreigner like me, who was not used to navigating everything in my life on my own, to put a foot forward. Anxiety soared many times, leading me to cancel plans by intentionally finding reasons. But eventually, I realized that I was enjoying my own company, by doing fun activities and learning from mistakes. This new confidence even made me more productive in my research. 

It all starts with pursuing what you love to do, and deciding what you want to do. Making decisions can be scary, even making a step forward for a coffee or a hike outside, but if you do it once, you find the utmost fulfillment. 

In the end, everyone has a story, with each writing style different from the other. I share mine with the hope that someone else finds theirs!