Taking The Next Right Thing Toward A New Beginning
Four months have passed since I left my home for two years — Hanoi, Vietnam.
The day before my flight was filled with tears, scrolling through old photos, staring at two open suitcases, and asking myself what I had done.
After Hanoi, I had three months until my big move to Madrid, Spain. I was about to take my Master’s Degree in Teaching to advance my career and live in Europe.
Europe had been a dream since my twenties. I once told my ex-boyfriend to propose to me in front of the Eiffel Tower. I marveled at Santorini’s immaculate steps and bluest seas. Though I was never big on pizza, I was inspired by Liz Gilbert’s solo expedition to Italy.
Despite the steep prices of education, rent, and flights, I decided to proceed by applying to the university of my choice.
If not now, when?
I had to see Europe at least once in my lifetime.
Leaving Hanoi was both an easy and difficult decision to make.
In my first year, I knew I couldn’t stay in this country because of the lack of benefits and work stability. My school paid me by the hour, had no insurance offerings, and did not integrate us, foreign teachers, into the school system. We were the foreign teachers who received gifts on special holidays but never had our own space in the teacher’s room.
After two years, I felt ready to move forward.
The most excruciating part is potentially severing the relationships I worked so hard to build. My biggest achievements in Hanoi were my supportive friendships and communities. My friends and I enjoyed each other’s company, worked together to make a small impact on underprivileged groups, and openly talked about life stories over hot noodles.
In the longest-running study of happiness, Dr. Waldinger and his group found that good relationships “keep us healthier and happier.” It’s the quality of our relationships that determine our life span.
Was I cutting my life short by doing this?
By leaving Vietnam and moving to Spain, I was saying “no” to one country and “yes” to another. I was back to not knowing who to trust and creating a new bank account. For the second time, I was starting from nothing.
But the same thought rang in my head: If not now, when?
The next right thing. At times, this is the only step we could take. Amidst all of life’s demands — work, distractions, family obligations, pets — one step toward what we set our minds and hearts to do is all we can take.
While we could spend hours contemplating an uncertain future and the life we left behind, we could also choose hopefulness and confidence in our ability to rebuild a new tomorrow.
Whenever we get asked, “What’s next?”, we may not have the answer readily available. It’s hard to know. The future reveals itself either slowly or fast to notice.
But we have today, and, today, we can go for a walk. We can take a short nap. We can work. We can embrace the people dearest to us. We can send a message to a friend we haven’t seen in a long time.
The next right thing.
Odyssa is the author of Like A New Sun Rising: A Collection of Poems on Love and From Where I Stand: A Collection of Poems on Travel.
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