First day of the new year is perfect timing for a fresh start. Reflections on the past year don’t help much with building a life from scratch, six thousand miles away from your hometown. Neither does new year resolutions.

What counts when you are trying to establish a new life is mostly focusing on the next thing that you need to achieve, as well as constantly taking care of your own physical and mental well-being with an intentional effort to wake up self-motivated next day to keep building on the little foundation that you have in the new location.

Even the smallest achievements count to carry yourself towards the next one and eventually to tangible results that will motivate you further to keep going.

As you strive to keep yourself together while juggling multiple priorities, unexpected surprises, like a welcoming smile or a gesture, help you keep the hope for brighter days ahead alive.

The decision to change countries at mid-life on your own is not one to be made randomly. No matter how much you think it through, life will keep happening in its unique way.

If you manage to embrace change in the way that we all have to when it comes to observing the weather change with seasons, adaptation follows naturally just like wearing the right clothes for the weather instantly make you feel better.

Avoiding change for longer than needed results in getting trapped in the illusion that we are in control of our lives and what will happen next. Taking a step forward comes together with its own risks and rewards, but most importantly a humbling experience that teaches you no other can. One that makes you realize that you were never in control anyways.

It would be fair to say that most people are fans of summer rather than winter. However, it’s often the effort in winter that leads to a rewarding summer. Even before that, winter has so much to offer including tranquility as soon as the turbulence is over.

Let’s keep the first chapter concise, with hopes that it will be a consistent practice of writing throughout the year and beyond. Only thing to leave the ones who made it to the end of the essay is:

If you have something in mind, make an intentional effort to pause thinking about it for a while and for once, act on it this time. I promise, you will have plenty of time to keep thinking on the go.

To new beginnings and a wonderful 2025.