3 years later
As with the last time I had a long break from LJ, I would definitely say to my past self to not worry so much. It all works out in the end!
After leaving the job I had been in for the past 9 years (which felt pretty surreal!), I on the whole look back on it with fondness, despite the bad parts. It was an incredibly fun and formative time.
But now that I've moved to the Hague I feel arguably more at peace with myself than I've ever been. That's not so much down to the place itself (although it is a very nice place to live!) but rather the vastly improved work-life balance, working for people who show appreciation towards their employees, having upgraded accommodation-wise, and having our first child on the way. Greater satisfaction all around. I'm not going to pretend life is perfect - in that there's nothing much fun about being reduced to the level of a 2-year-old linguistically by moving to a country whose language you don't speak, being away from all your friends, and working in a sector that you're not as happy with as you were with the previous one - but to repeat the mantra above, it's not worth worrying so much about it. It all works out in the end!
Perhaps being more zen about this sort of thing is partly something that comes with age. I wasn't expecting my 30th birthday to feel so significant two years ago - but it did. You inevitably look back on your 20-year-old self and see how far you've come. In that time I've met people who have genuinely enabled me to let go of the past and be at peace with myself, and grateful for all I do have.
It's also natural when you finally obtain your driver's licence (as I finally did in February 2015, yay!) and obtain nationality of a country with which you strongly identify (as I did by becoming French in May 2017, yay!) that such significant life events will also endow you with a degree of confidence and security that you didn't possess previously. It all adds up to making you an even better person (hopefully!).
I've also been reflecting today on the fact that it's practically 10 years to the day since I moved to France and my adult life officially started. So much of your twenties seems to be about finding yourself and my thirties seem to be shaping up well. Now that I know myself better, there's a sense of contentment and peace that I'm not sure ever existed in me before. There's certainly a lot to be said for not going back - for what lies ahead is surely even better than what has come before.
After leaving the job I had been in for the past 9 years (which felt pretty surreal!), I on the whole look back on it with fondness, despite the bad parts. It was an incredibly fun and formative time.
But now that I've moved to the Hague I feel arguably more at peace with myself than I've ever been. That's not so much down to the place itself (although it is a very nice place to live!) but rather the vastly improved work-life balance, working for people who show appreciation towards their employees, having upgraded accommodation-wise, and having our first child on the way. Greater satisfaction all around. I'm not going to pretend life is perfect - in that there's nothing much fun about being reduced to the level of a 2-year-old linguistically by moving to a country whose language you don't speak, being away from all your friends, and working in a sector that you're not as happy with as you were with the previous one - but to repeat the mantra above, it's not worth worrying so much about it. It all works out in the end!
Perhaps being more zen about this sort of thing is partly something that comes with age. I wasn't expecting my 30th birthday to feel so significant two years ago - but it did. You inevitably look back on your 20-year-old self and see how far you've come. In that time I've met people who have genuinely enabled me to let go of the past and be at peace with myself, and grateful for all I do have.
It's also natural when you finally obtain your driver's licence (as I finally did in February 2015, yay!) and obtain nationality of a country with which you strongly identify (as I did by becoming French in May 2017, yay!) that such significant life events will also endow you with a degree of confidence and security that you didn't possess previously. It all adds up to making you an even better person (hopefully!).
I've also been reflecting today on the fact that it's practically 10 years to the day since I moved to France and my adult life officially started. So much of your twenties seems to be about finding yourself and my thirties seem to be shaping up well. Now that I know myself better, there's a sense of contentment and peace that I'm not sure ever existed in me before. There's certainly a lot to be said for not going back - for what lies ahead is surely even better than what has come before.