As I record the event of the next few years, I want to make it more than the travel and experience, but also if the internal changes that come with this adventure that I am on. So I am 4 months into my move to Germany and it has been met already with many priceless experiences (invigorating and draining). There is absolutely nothing that can prepare you for packing up your life in one place and moving to another. There would have been a bit of a struggle moving from the East coast to the West coast, or the rustle and bustle of the North to the calm and the patience of the South. But in America, you have one thing that will always play in your favor -- Everyone speaks English!!! And the culture is the same. No matter where you go, it will be easy to make friends and meet new people. But there is a common foundation that everyone has that helps facilitate the adaptation to the new surroundings.
For a young woman who has moved from Detroit, Michigan where she was born and raised to Stuttgart (actually Esslingen) Germany more than 5,000 miles away from the place she calls home -- change is a formidable foe. I have traveled to Germany more than 6 times in the last couple of years on business, but there is one thing to travel somewhere on business or just for travel, and another to move someplace for a long-term experience and have to call it home. Things as simple as going to CVS to pick up a prescription changes, has a different process, and is done in a different language (not to mention has a different name). From day 1, it's sensory overload - sight, hearing, taste, sound, touch, and I will add spirit. Everything is new, the air, the germs, the feel of the air on a spring or summer day.
But at the same time, the change assists in the personal growth. When you pick up and move across the globe away from your safety net, your support system and your comfort zone, some things are just not the same anymore. The issues that you may have stressed or thought about in your previous world are minuscule compared to your present challenges, and the hopes and dreams that you have become bigger as your dreams are being realized in your everyday life. At the same time, that safety net is pulled from under you and you realize that every 'T' un-crossed and every 'I' un-dotted means that you, and you alone are solely responsible for any repercussion that may come from the oversight. But it also serves as a catalyst into actual self-growth and independence.
Although this experience is met with so many challenges, it also has so many benefits. And the pros definitely outweigh the cons. As a person, a daughter, an employee, a friend, I am already better. I have already learned so much about myself and I know if I can do this, I can do even more - with God on my side.
Most of all, I know where my real support system lies. And I have grown to appreciate it more and more as the days go by. There is nothing like the love of a mother, who you could only hope to be like one of these days, or the days you can talk to a father who has been the true definition of what a real man should be. The friendship of sisters, that through the good times or more frustrating, the unconditional love trumps everything else and they will always be there. To an Aunt and Uncle who was willing to take in your dog as one of their family knowing one day he would move with you, but they loved him just the same. To the friend even thousands of miles aways you can Skype with to help with a business meeting or call when one of 'us' is no longer with us. To the friends and family, already, that I had the opportunity to share in the birth of their children. To the payments I pay every month to be in the right place with the right people at those special times. To the pastor that has prayed for you in-spite of your faults, and the woman you have learned the meaning and benefits of serving. From the laughs on Instagram from soon to be family in reality. To the mentors is Southern California with a room always for me. To the people who just stay in touch - without reason, without alternative motives - but with unconditional love: this blog posting is for you, the corner, MY WINNING CORNER!
If nothing else in this life: keep dreaming and pursue your dreams regardless of the outcome. I promise you will never be disappointed and life will always give back to you what you go after.
Dream Big, Live Big,
I love you all!
