2019 has been a CRAZY year. Probably the craziest year of my life to be precise, and a year that has taught me quite a few life lessons. Since the bushfires have made me very thoughtful these days anyway, I decided to share the most important lessons – positive and negative – in this rather philosophical post at the start of this New Year and decade of 2020.
Lesson 1: Opportunities can happen when you least expect it
It’s a bit mind-blowing now to think back to December 2018 and to think that at this time, I had no idea that only one year later, I’d be sat in a flat in Sydney having just started a permanent job in Australia. Around this time last year, I didn’t think that I’d ever return to Australia on a long-term basis. I knew that I didn’t see myself in London much longer and I’d been having these thoughts for a while – I just genuinely didn’t know where else I’d see myself living. At the time I was freelancing for my now employer back in London and in February, I headed to Perth to work from there remotely. From then onwards, everything seemed to just happen and fall into place for me: I was sent to Sydney again from my company on a short term assignment in April, got a job offer afterwards and after quite a bit of thinking, decided to take this opportunity. And I even met a great guy along the way 🙂
My lesson learnt from this: If you feel stuck (and I’d been feeling stuck for a couple of years at the least) – just keep your eyes open, listen to your gut and do what feels right at this moment. Opportunities can happen when you least expect it. And if they do, be brave and embrace them, even if it’s scary to embark in the unknown. Noone can look into the future and only by doing things will you know if they were right for you.
Lesson 2: Life doesn’t stick to a plan
Throughout the rollercoaster of 2019, I often dreamt about my new life in Australia. I saw myself lingering around the beach relaxed as a Buddha monk with a book and surrounded by the sound of the waves and the blue sky. I thought I’d be outdoors much more and start running again, maybe even pick up surfing? Whenever I was really stressed throughout the decision process, while processing the visa and preparing the move to the other side of the world, I thought that soon enough, this will be a distant memory.
Fast-forward to October, I was finally in Sydney – but it wasn’t as rosy or easy a transition as I expected it to be. I was tired and exhausted for weeks, I was homesick a lot more than I thought I would be and then the bushfires started (more about that later).
My lesson learnt from this: It’s important to have a dream or a vision about what the future will hold, but ultimately, things in life just happen as they do and just because you’re moving to a beautiful new country, it doesn’t mean that everything will just be roses from there onwards. Try and accept life as it is and to deal with things as they come.
Lesson 3: “Mind over body” only works for so long
Tying on from the previous lesson, and a big mistake I think many of us make on a regular basis, is not taking the time to relax when things are stressful because we can do that “later”. I knew for well that I was pushing myself a bit too much in 2019, trying to do too many things and neglecting exercise and time to relax. I thought while I’m still in England, I want to make the most of the time that I had, plus there was so much work and stuff to sort out – so I just kept going, ignoring the warning signs of e.g. my back.
The result of that was that I wasn’t feeling great when I came here at all, and instead of being able to enjoy the first few weeks of sunshine when I got here, I felt miserable and needed a good few months and treatment to get into better shape again.
My lesson learnt from this: There is always going to be a hamster wheel. Ultimately, it’s our decision how fast we decide to run in it.
Lesson 4: Friends will be friends
An important part of settling in a new city for me is meeting people. I’m quite a social person and solid friendships make me feel good. However, building up friendships in a new place means you have to seek to meet new people by going out, doing group activities and all that. It also takes time to meet people, and even more, to really get to know and trust them. Being tired and exhausted isn’t usually the best way to go out and meet people, and so I spent more time alone in the first few months in Sydney than ever before.
That was, until I realised that I wasn’t really alone. There are a lot of people that are there for me, even if they aren’t in Sydney. In the last weeks and months, I have spent a lot of time in long conversations with my family, friends and my boyfriend, and I appreciate more than ever the great people that I have met throughout my life and recently, those who know me really well and have my very best interests at heart. As much as I still obviously want to meet more people and make new friends in Sydney, I am truly blessed to have great people in my life already and distance isn’t really an obstacle to being close to people anymore.
My lesson learnt from this: The people close to you are the most important treasure you have. And if they are real friends, and if you make the effort to keep in touch, you aren’t going to lose them just because you are moving far away.
Lesson 5: Nothing in life should be taken for granted
A few weeks after I arrived in Sydney, the bushfires started. The fires don’t acutely threaten Sydney in the sense that, I don’t worry that I’ll wake up one morning and the entire city is burning. It does affect Sydneysiders physically though because the air quality has been hazardous for most days over the last couple of months. At some point, the smoke completely disguised the Harbour Bridge (which is right in front of our office). The smoke also changes the vibe of the city. People are advised to stay indoors. And that’s nothing compared to what is happening further south.
What I find most difficult to deal with though is the constant anxiety about what is happening to this country (and the planet, for that matter): The people that are losing their homes, and for me even more terrifying, the loss of nature, the amount of innocent animals that have already died and the bushland lost to the flames. It’s hard to take your mind of it – when the wind picks up, you worry that the fires will most likely become worse yet again because the winds fan the flames on even further. When a hot day is in the forecast, it makes you anxious about what the rise in temperatures is going to do to the fires.
After a particular long stint of smoky air in the city, I woke up one morning and it had rained overnight. I left the house and instead of smoke, I could breathe fresh air that smelt like rain and flowers. I was the happiest I had been in Sydney in long time.
My lesson learnt from this: We take many things for granted. Many of us (including me until recently) take it for granted that we can breathe clean air, that we have a home and that we can eat and drink whenever and whatever we want to, that we are surrounded by beautiful nature and amazing wildlife. Let’s all appreciate these essential things a bit more in 2020 because they really aren’t a given.
On another note about the bushfires, I personally think that all the commentary and blaming on Facebook and the likes isn’t helping. All of a sudden, everyone is a climate change and fire prevention expert. If you really want to do something about it, donate e.g. to:
- The Australian Redcross is doing great work in disaster recovery and helping people that lost their homes
- WIRES is the wildlife rescue fund and they are desperately looking for donations
- The Willow Wood Sanctuary is building sanctuaries for wildlife to supply food on Kangaroo Island, which has been hit very bad
- The WWF cares for injured wildlife and restores their homes
- The RSPCA identifies and assesses injured animals.
