One of the biggest changes in my life was when 2,5 years ago, at 21, I left my country behind and moved to Spain. I immediately fell in love with Madrid and am proud to have called it home for all this time. But no holiday can last more than 2 years (just to loosely quote Kundera) and although my time here was anything but a standstill (I quickly went from student to working girl and have had three different jobs since then), I did start to feel it was time for something different. It has been my dream for a very long time to once live in Barcelona and as of the 1st of March I will be living that fantasy.
Of course it means I have to step away from many things I love here in Madrid - friends, Gran Vía and the world's best metro network - and I will also have to quit my job but I believe it is worth it. Many people would say I am crazy to give up a great position in this time of crisis and to opt for trying my luck in another city and I can't say all these thoughts haven't passed my mind. They have. Many, many times. But the thing is, I am still very young and have arrived to a point in my life when I know that I won't have this opportunity ever again.
If I don't change now, I might get even more friends who tie me to this city, I might not have my parents to support me if I fail and I might fall into the endless circle of routine where changing everything just sounds too much. I might have grown up in a different country but I definitely became an adult here in Madrid - I learnt how to live alone, how to take care of and stand up for myself and how to work in the adult world. I will always be grateful for this experience and I plan to come back many times to relive a little this short but important period of my life.
However, right now I prefer to look forward. I am excited about moving to the city I have always wanted to live in and to search new opportunities that are more and more related to what I really want to do: writing and/or movies.
Future might look frightening at times, but I'd rather regret something I had the courage to do but failed than not regret doing something I always desired to do but was too scared to. After all, "Losers are people who are so afraid of not winning, they don't even try."
Of course it means I have to step away from many things I love here in Madrid - friends, Gran Vía and the world's best metro network - and I will also have to quit my job but I believe it is worth it. Many people would say I am crazy to give up a great position in this time of crisis and to opt for trying my luck in another city and I can't say all these thoughts haven't passed my mind. They have. Many, many times. But the thing is, I am still very young and have arrived to a point in my life when I know that I won't have this opportunity ever again.
If I don't change now, I might get even more friends who tie me to this city, I might not have my parents to support me if I fail and I might fall into the endless circle of routine where changing everything just sounds too much. I might have grown up in a different country but I definitely became an adult here in Madrid - I learnt how to live alone, how to take care of and stand up for myself and how to work in the adult world. I will always be grateful for this experience and I plan to come back many times to relive a little this short but important period of my life.
However, right now I prefer to look forward. I am excited about moving to the city I have always wanted to live in and to search new opportunities that are more and more related to what I really want to do: writing and/or movies.
Future might look frightening at times, but I'd rather regret something I had the courage to do but failed than not regret doing something I always desired to do but was too scared to. After all, "Losers are people who are so afraid of not winning, they don't even try."
1 comment:
Very very very inspiring.
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