How Has Being an Expat Changed You?

07/05/2006

In my experience, being an expat has changed me in many ways for always. Of course the changes continue to occur daily, but the changes in understanding, tolerance, knowledge, experiences and perspectives are permanent and follow me wherever I go.

I wonder if being an expat has affected my resilience to certain conditions. Would I be able to appreciate being able to fit in and feel comfortable with a sense of belonging wherever I am if I were not an expat? Being an expat has made me more independent. I am definitely much more able to do what I want without being overly concerned about what others think. I am also able to put all those cultural and societal assumptions that most people assume from early childhood aside more willingly. It can be a painful process, and I imagine that this could easily have gone the other way, but I am very happy to say that living as an expat encouraged me to face such assumptions and question them and it has afforded me the luxury of making my own set of guidelines for living.

Being an expat has at the deepest level meant putting myself in someone else’s shoes and looking at myself honestly. Is everything I see good, or do I need to fix some things?

Being an expatriate allows me to compare objectively and this constantly fills me with gratitude and with a sense awe at just how connected we really all are despite our cultural, racial and societal differences. I know that being an expat has also helped me to adjust to personal, career and other changes in my life more readily and smoothly. I am able to let go of resistance a lot easier and embrace the new. Other ways I believe that being an expat has changed me include important things such as getting more out of life, earning more money, having different and meaningful relationships with groups people whom I possibly would not have met, life direction, the ability to clarify what is essential to me, changes in limiting beliefs, patterns and behaviors, improving confidence and enhancing the skills I already had.

No country I have ever lived in including my home country ever leaves my heart. The memories that are stored are wonderful and powerful and continue to shape me and guide me. It is true that my expat experiences to date have enriched my adult years and they have allowed me the opportunity to see things differently. I wonder if I had not had these expat experiences if I would be able to see the world through others’ eyes as I am able to do now and recognize that there really is only one world and we are all connected.

I believe that my experiences have helped me with direction, clarity, focus, and motivation in life. Being an expat stretches me everyday and instead of meandering along, I am encouraged to achieve as much as I possibly can with my life. Being an expatriate has empowered me with a sense of self-belief and confidence I might otherwise not have had. How has it affected your life?