Go, take some risks – how I’ve ended up in Mauritius

 It was all really easy to be honest. Easier than anyone would have thought – especially me! Be careful what you wish for…

I lived in the UK for almost 7 years. My career was going great, I worked hard but was promoted accordingly and remunerated fairly. I’ve never had so much money in my life. Of course this is all subjective, as I couldn’t afford to get a mortgage for my own flat in London – who can?! – but a Polish girl in a big city – I couldn’t ask for more. I could go on holiday twice a year, have weekend getaways and could buy a nice Karen Millen dress once in a while. I had money to give away, to help friends and family to make their life easier. It was very important to me to give. But something was missing.

My work was my main source of self-confidence and sense of achievement in life. When I think about it now, work was always first, before my family, my friends, before myself.  The harder I worked, the more responsibility I was given and because I was convinced that I can not fail at anything, it generated so much stress that I started having health problems. I was waking up and falling asleep thinking about work and couldn’t break the vicious circle. I’ve achieved so much but all achievements felt hollow. Somewhere deep inside me, I felt there’s something more to life than work, than earning and spending money, than meeting the targets. I really wanted to find what it is and feel happy, balanced, fulfilled. I felt the calling and I knew I had to answer.

I think, I was able to hear and identify the calling because for the last 3 years I was actively looking. Looking into myself, looking for answers, critically thinking and analyzing my own choices, my mistakes. I was doing personal development trainings, NLP, coaching, counseling. You name it. I really took massive action and, as I was so disconnected from myself, it took me 3 years to realize that I was not happy and the main reason I wasn’t, was in me. You know, Einstein said “Doing something, same way, many times and expecting different results is a definition of insanity”. That’s the most important thing I finally understood!

Once I got that, everything seemed easier. I’ve started changing the ‘how I do things’ from looking for alternative ways. I’ve only know one way how to work – hard, how to feel good about myself – please others. I needed answers and guidance. And because I looked for it I found it. I found a wonderful, supportive and understanding boyfriend, who believes in me. I found Soft Power as alternative to my daily self – Superwoman & I found support of like-minded women at One of many™. And slowly, I think I’m finding myself.

I was lucky enough to have a partner who understood that and felt the calling for more in his own way. And it all started very simply. One gloomy, British October evening, we sat on the floor of my bedroom and started brainstorming what we’d like to do NOW. Before we get a mortgage and be up to our necks in the consumerism trap. We had a pile of A4 blank sheets and wrote names of places we’d like to live in on top of each. We had Italy, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Hawaii and Mauritius. Why not?! (I had to google where Mauritius was! I knew Réunion but no Mauritius). We put pros and cons on each piece of paper and what we could do there. It was fun to imagine the best case scenarios. Of course my ‘things will go wrong’ mind came up with plenty of reasons why we shouldn’t do any of it, just stay in our sad but well-known Slough.(Yes, of all the places in the UK, that’s where we lived!)
We let the universe know that we were ready. We were actually quite specific in what we want. And then we left it. I was still fire-fighting at work and desperately trying to keep EVERYTHING under control. But was working on re-prioritizing myself and my personal life over work. I was getting there… (Not!) I think it was the same month when my partner got a job offer from Germany. We both though ‘that might be it’. But in the end it didn’t work out. You know how it is, hopes up and a disappointment… And then we found this amazing job offer in Mauritius. It was honestly too good to be true. But we’ve decided to apply and see what happens. It all went pretty fast. Thomas got through 2 interviews quickly and got the job! We couldn’t believe it. It took us a good week to decide if he will accept it. We read everything that there is about expat life in Mauritius. We’ve talked to Mauritian friends and a guy who was actually living here and working for the company. There was no trick. The universe presented us with this amazing opportunity and we decided to take it.

Was it easy to make the decision? Yes. Was it easy to live with the decision through 3 months of normal work and preparations for the ‘unknown’? No. It’s never easy to make such a big step. The biggest challenges are always in your head. But the important thing is to feel the fear and do it anyway! Susie Heath, an amazing coach I’ve met at her workshop, said to me once – ‘Go, take some risks’. I am lucky enough to know that if I wanted I could go back to my old life. I also have a safety net of my family, who I know I can always count on. But it was up to me to take the risk and be prepared to leave the well-known and safe life, loose the certainty and predictability and maybe, if I’m lucky, win something bigger than that…