Change Is Near

Dedicated to Mark. Anything is possible.

So you want to tackle life by starting anew? Great! Courage, it will all be OK even if it might seem crazily uncertain now.

Whatever reason people have for making dramatic changes in their lives it is never easy. It is not impossible either, but sometimes we kind of expect it to be just all smooth sailing because we have a vision of what we want. It is not going to effortless: it will require hard work and perseverance. But you will make it - just believe in yourself and keep going.

Everyone has their own story but let me tell you how it happened to me. Some eight years ago I was home on a Sunday afternoon, in the country where I was born and in the same city I had lived for a decade - where all my friends were, where I went to university, got my first “real job” and was “building a career” - or whatever that means.

I have since then lost faith in the traditional way of life and think it's all a big hoax, a brainwashing scheme. We all have this one life: let's not waste it.

I do not mind telling you I had a horrible hangover that Sunday. The previous night I had been out with my friends, just like countless times before, week after week, year after year. At that stage I was unemployed. The economy in Europe was not exactly blossoming and though I had chosen to leave my job six months earlier it did not make my life any easier: I was depressed as nothing I did seemed to result in anything I was very excited about. The days, weeks and years seemed to resemble each other too much. I did not feel inspired. I had a faint idea somewhere in the back of my head - though I did not know how to put it into words - that I truly wanted to be inspired, shaken, to be thrown into adventures, weird situations with unusual people.

How amazing it is to look back now with all I know and all my experiences so far to that narrow-minded person I was, only seeing inside the box and completely unaware of the possibilities and opportunities the world held!

And it was a simple message from a good friend (who also had a horrible hangover that very day) saying: “This country is so mundane. How about we get a working holiday visa and go to Australia for a year?”. Nothing before had ever made as much sense as those few words on my PC screen. This was that something that I had been waiting for: an inspiration. From that very second onwards I simply KNEW with 100% certainty that leaving somewhere new, exotic, strange, was the thing I craved for. Something I simply had to do. I had no choice.

What an intoxicating moment that was, even looking back to it now years later. It was my gut feeling telling me to do something no matter how scary. I had no clue what it was that I was getting into - and probably best so. I have since then started listening to my gut feeling more and more: it is never wrong.

Very soon after this realization I took a whatever job which was way below my skills and definitely did not match my fancy university degree but I knew it was income and something that would fund my way out of here to a life that was awaiting. I actually took on two part-time jobs as well and obviously got overwhelmed very fast. But I was greedy to make money for I saw that as a something necessary for my unknown future.

Now I know that huge savings are not everything - as long as I always have enough money to buy a ticket home to my family I know I’ll be safe. Anything more than that is just a great perk. Money is a necessity but we often value it too much: we do not need as much of it as we seem to think. Also money gives no guarantees of anything.

When the day came to finally get on the plane I had sold or given away all my belongings: all I had left were a few boxes at my parents’ basement. I had a huge backpack and a one-way ticket to Australia. I was so scared I felt paralyzed. I remember standing there at the airport thinking if I was making a huge mistake - could I still call this off, get my old apartment and that crummy, whatever job back if I just said this was a silly idea?

Fear will be present at times, especially in the beginning of your great life change. We fear things that we can not understand and an unknown future is something we can not even imagine so how could we understand it! But. Let me remind you of a liberating fact of life: nothing in life is certain.

Let me repeat that. NOTHING in life is certain. There are NO guarantees. Even if you stay home, or wherever it is right now that makes you feel safe and sheltered, you are not “safe” from life.

For the only thing certain in life is change. Us people are insane animals and we fight to slow or stop that change without realizing it is unnatural. Change, ever-changing life in all its multitude is the only certain thing around us and in our own lives. I am sorry to tell you this, but you are not now, never have been nor never will be safe. Life can have its way with us no matter what kind of walls or shelters we thought we built to protect ourselves.

But do not let this depress you: on contrary, let it liberate you. For what is there to fear in a world where we all are equally floating around in uncertainty?

Do not worry about “failing” because there is no such thing as failing. How could there be if you follow your heart and do what makes you happy. Think big. Think outside the box. Do not let pride or fear stop you from reaching out. More you do more you realize is possible.

And truly anything is possible.