Are you homesick yet?

You know wha yuh got not wha yuh gine get

In other words; you know what you have and not what you will get 

 On several occasions over the last few weeks I have been asked: are you homesick yet?

Am I homesick yet?

The definition of homesick according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary is: “sad because you are away from family and home”.

So… am I homesick yet?

There is a comfort to being close to family, and being in the environment within which you were raised. There is a pattern, a rhythm, an ease to everything because you already know or have a good idea of what will happen in most situations.

So essentially what I am being asked is if I miss the pattern, if I am sad because I miss the comfort of being near to everyone who loves me.

 

Do I miss waking up to the sun shining through the window, or waking up to go running outside when the rain didn’t fall? Do I miss being able to get into my own car and drive to my mum’s, dad’s or grandmother’s house and getting something to eat or just to have a chat? Do I miss the comfort of knowing that I will see familiar faces with smiles from those who know, love, like or just see me every day?

I can’t go sit at my favourite desks in the office and gossip with the girls. I can’t call my brother when I feel sick and know that he will be there within moments. I can’t call my girls and sit and chat with them for minutes or hours according to the time or the topic. I just don’t have the comfort of home.

 

I do miss all of those things; I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t. I especially miss knowing that if I don’t cook, I can always find free food (lol). But if I use the dictionary definition I am not homesick because I am not sad because I miss them. The memories make me smile, they make me feel warm (thank goodness) never sad.  

As I look out of the window and look at this new environment, with its pretty leaves, regular buses, and different people, I know that what I do have is an opportunity. I have an opportunity to rise to a new challenge and create a new pattern.

 

What’s the lesson? What did I learn?

Before I left home a colleague said to me that they never intended to really go too far away from home despite an amazing opportunity they had at the time. My only conclusion after that discussion was that they were worried about being homesick or afraid to leave that comfort.

Let the comfort of home be just that, a comfort on the lonely days. Let home always make you smile. Don’t let fear of the unknown stop you from grasping opportunities that can make you a better, more rounded, more experienced person.

I hope that as you read you realise that this lesson does not only apply to persons who are looking to leave country. Grasping opportunities could be big or small, simple or monumental, but they will always be your opportunities. The unknown for each of us is different.