This month (thanks to my phone contract ending) I realised I am living in London 2 years.....TWO YEARS!!!! KA-RAY-ZEE!! It is relatively a short amount of time but I feel like I've really settled into London life. I've not once thought that I had made the wrong decision and never wished in that whole time that I could go back to Ireland. London is my home now.
When I left I didn't have any responsibilities, I'd no ties and nothing that was strong enough to keep me there. I knew something had to change and that my life was just in a limbo stage. I knew in myself how much I wanted to move forward, grow, develop and learn and unfortunately for me, Ireland just didn't fill that gap. I still have friends and family in Ireland who are very happy there and will probably stay there for the rest of their lives, but I just had an urge to go to London.
Once I had the decision made, there was no turning back. Within a week of telling everyone I knew, I had my ticket bought. I was scared and anxious because I was leaving everything and everyone I knew and had to pack my entire life into suitcases and start from scratch in a country I didn't know. But knowing that that's what I had to do to make myself happy, was what kept me going. It's so important to follow your gut feelings and even though the unknown is scary, you will surprise yourself and come out from that uncertain cloud realising how easy it really was and how much more you can take on because of going through with that decision.
Because of all of this I definitely have changed. I see a difference in my lifestyle, personality and my way of thinking. When I think back to who I was in Ireland and then look at who I am now, I can 100% say I am different...not bad different...just evolved different.
One way in which I've changed, is I do more of what makes me happy "The path to happiness isn't always full of sunshine" I've learned to follow my heart and to do the things I want to do even though it means breaking from my comfort zone. So after a year of working in London I quit that job and went traveling. I knew I would come back to London and have to start a fresh all over again. I didn't let the thoughts of potential future circumstances jeopardize what I wanted to do. If I had let the fear of what could happen in the future take over, there's no way I would have packed up my life again to travel.
This moves me on to my next point. I have learned to listen to myself and to be confident in my decision making. Trusting myself and knowing I'm making the right decision for me even though most people around me mightn't agree at the time, isn't always easy. I've realised everyone will have an opinion on what they think is best but at the end of the day it's my life and I have to live it my way.
I've also learned to commute to work (which might seem weird) but I've always lived in town (and most of my life I've been within walking distance to work) so to have a travel card and to actual commute to work everyday, was a massive change for me. It was so alien to me to spend up to an hour and a half in a packed tube to get to work everyday. I couldn't really handle the tubes when I first moved here...rush hour with everyone whizzing past and not taking anyone else into consideration was such a culture shock. Now I'm a pro at quick walking through crowds, I always travel with music, if I have to answer the phone, it's a quick 2 minute call because no one talks on the tube and I always complain to someone about the tube if there are delays to my journey.
London has also made me do more with my spare time. Whether it's restaurants, pubs, shows or tourist attractions, I want to go out and explore more of the things around me. If I want to go for a stroll in Hyde park, eat bagels in Brick Lane or see the London Eye, I just go. I don't make excuses and just see it because it's there.
It's also made me realise how little of Ireland I actually saw and visited. I definitely didn't see half of the tourist spots while I lived there. I used the excuse 'oh it'll always be there, I can go anytime'...but guess what, I never went. If you read my Wicklow Day Trip post, you'll have heard me talk about going back to be a tourist in Ireland. Moving away made me relaise how amazing Ireland is (even if it rains a lot) but it has made me apprecaite where I'm from a lot more and made me want to visit it properly.
So I've just stopped typing for the first time since opening this post and I've only now realised how long this is (So if you've stuck around to this last bit, then thank you) I wasn't expecting to ramble on as much as I have but hey if my brain thinks it my fingers type it and that's just how it is. So I feel I should sign off for now. I hope this has been a nice insightful post to read and you enjoyed another 1am ramble in the dark, with the only light being from my laptop.
As always you can find me on social media and you can subscribe to my blog by entering your email in the 'follow by mail' bar. Bye for now and chat to you soon.
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