Growth

Over the weekend, I realized a lot of things about life.

A time will come for all of us to look for growth somewhere else.

Our home will always be there, but the familiarity it brings sometimes stagnate us and hinder us from growing as a person.

I have experienced this first hand after I got married.

When I was still living under my parent’s roof, I couldn’t wait to get out of it. I couldn’t wait to spend my life with my soon to be husband. I thought that leaving my parent’s home would be easy and that the changes married life will bring in my life would be a piece of cake. But then what I thought would be easy was actually really hard, what I thought would be a piece of cake was actually hard to swallow.

Being away from my family was the hardest thing after I got married. I was so used to the comforts of home that being away from it was sometimes unbearable. It didn’t help that the place my husband rented didn’t have any television or a radio at least. I even have to go to the mall to use an internet connection. All I did the whole day was either reading books or trying to do the laundry.

Truth to tell, it was really hard. In fact, I have blamed myself for making such an impulsive decision. I had a “great” life back home. I had a job in a government agency and I was up for promotion at that time. I left all of it for a domesticated life with my husband. But soon I realized that leaving home was what I really needed. I mean, personally, I have stopped growing. Yes, I had a fantastic job but it did not bring out the best in me. Four years of routine work is not challenging anymore. I am good in a lot of things but I haven’t had the chance to hone my skills because I was so comfortable back home that in my free time, I just watched television and surf the net. Where’s the growth there, right?

Yesterday, my husband’s best friend has left the country to work in New Zealand. Our friends, especially my husband had a hard time saying goodbye to a dear friend. It will probably take some time before he can come back home. That friend lived a very comfortable life yet he chose to leave the country to find work somewhere else. Though I am sad that he left, I feel excited for him because I am sure he’ll find his personal growth there. Like me, he will learn quite a number of things about himself and what he can do. Like me, he will discover new skills and hone those that he has not used for a long time.

Yes, life is hard and the choices it brings can be life changing. But regardless, whether good or bad, in the end, we have learned something. And as we learn, we grow.