The first time I left my home country to live in another country, I was 19 years old. I moved from Nairobi, Kenya to Perth, Australia to go to college. As a child, I have always found myself being attracted to independence like a magnet. The opportunity to be able to figure out things on my own made life more interesting. I never wanted things laid out for me. Till date, I feel the same.
Perth is a beautiful place, and the college was perfect in my eyes. Curtin University of Technology was nothing short of charming. The train and bus rides to and from college fueled the feeling of independence. With each experience, I was discovering that I could be more than the person I was in my home country. That's when I had a realization that there is so much more we can do and be if we are brave enough to step out of our comfort zone. I was evolving with every challenge and triumph I came across. My son talked about how he is evolving the other day, he is only 6 so this comment from him caught me off guard. I just smiled and said to him that he is evolving and I am so proud of him.
Other than the academics, college came with budgeting, cooking, cleaning and time management lessons. Making sure I completed my assignments on time in addition to keeping up with my part time job, cleaning the house and also making sure I attended all my classes was more difficult than I had imagined but, every little grain of roughness was smoothening me. I met a part of myself that I wouldn't have, hadn't I jumped into this deep zone of opportunities, difficulties and amazing experiences.
When you leave home to live in another country where you hardly know anyone, reality hits you in the face harder than you think it ever will. I spent 3 years in Perth and actually managed to graduate with a Bachelor's of Art in Textiles. It happened! To be honest, that was not my biggest achievement. For the most part, I always thought that the outcome will be my biggest achievement, my degree. I was surely proud of attaining that degree but thinking about it now, the essence was in the journey and the experiences. We become a version of ourselves we had never imagined or thought we would. We learn how to be resilient, to be our authentic self.
It has been almost 13 years since I graduated but the memories of my experiences in Perth are still with me. I learnt so many lessons about life and grew so much emotionally. I ended up going back to Kenya for a couple of years and moving again to USA. I know right? Seems like I cannot keep my feet in one place! 8 years and counting, I am finally settled in Orlando. The journey is still in progress. The question is, how do we embrace it? The outcome is important since it is our motivation but let's embrace each moment of our journey. Time just flies by us, we need to make the most of it. Can we consciously soak in every moment like it's never going to come back? Because in reality, when a moment has passed, it has passed. Let's give ourselves the power to embrace the journey. Success is in the process of whatever it is you are trying to accomplish in life. I hope you all enjoyed reading this post and I hope it can help you seize those moments of this journey we call life....