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With all the things going on I missed my anniversary. While normally these things are Steem or relationship related, the anniversary I missed was my entry into Finland *16 years ago.*

https://i.imgur.com/bFQalcZ.jpg

It still feels kind of surreal that I am living on the near polar opposite of where I was born. Not only that, this city in Finland is now officially the place I have lived the longest time of my life as I moved from my home town before I turned 16, and then spent the next 8 years in the far north of Australia before leabing for whiter pastures. 

> *Whiter in many ways.*

When I left Australia I had a decent job with opportunity and a solid social network I could have leveraged. When I arrived in Finland I knew very few people and those I did weren't exactly opportunity providers.

> I felt quite alone.

But, I quickly built a circle of close friends I still have today and while life was economically oppressive and there were few professional opportunities for me personally, slowly I started to build a life here. Now, I could even say I have roots in Finland - which makes it hard as now there is stuff to leave. 

This is the problem with finding some land and building a home, developing relationships and investing into being a part of the community as these ties make giving in difficult. I wonder that if during the many years of economic hardship I faced in Finland, if I didn't have the friends I do, would I have stayed?

> Unlikely.

Most of my friends are Finnish so for them, they always had a network to fall back on and if they got in trouble, family to have their back. I never had much of that and in Finland, none of it. This meant for those times I really felt there was no way out of a predicament, it was crushing.

But, my survival thus far has proven my feelings wrong more than a handful of times as, *there was a way out.* Some dwell in their failures, some use whatever rock-bottom they have at their back to lift themselves from and move on.

As I mentioned to someone today, if one accepts the possibility of failure before the attempt is made, there is nothing to fear and only upside. Many people fear the failure so much they do not attempt because to do so risks losing what they already have. 

>Better the devil you know, *Status quo.*

Bring in Finland has taught me a lot including how little I need to survive and how much work I am capable of doing in order to get that little. I had it unknowingly "too easy" in Australia and, it was never easy - *just familiar.*

We like familiar because it conveniently means we do not have to entertain the possibilities of uncertainty and even though we dream of bettering our lives, the fear of worsening it through change is too great for most of us to overcome. Change always happens though and the reality is that if you are reading this, you yourself are proof of survival of change.

>Survival doesn't mean painless.

Pain is the greatest teacher we have, it is memorable and transforms our behavior. For though that feel themselves victims of the pain it is easy to become bitter, create excuses, dwell and become stagnant or perhaps worse, aggressive and mean-spirited.

For those who recognise themselves as survivors of the pain they can transform into something with greater understanding, compassion and connectedness to the world around. Rather than barriers, bridges can be built. 

>We all stand alone, but who we stand next to matters.

Fears and dreams are faces on the same flipped coin. 

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]

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