Is the grass always greener on the other side?

Hi there strangers :)
Today was a good day. Apart from it being a Saturday, I actually felt like I belonged somewhere...
And that sure is a good feeling!


Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
~Marcel Proust

Photograph by a close friend, who understands me inside and out...

 Emigrating to the UK, for me, sometimes feels like a curse (not that I have anything against England and English people). It's this feeling of never belonging, never feeling exactly right - always needing to compare the two different worlds.

That's why I decided to share with you guys, a debating speech I wrote earlier this year for school about this problem... *If you have your views MAKE SURE TO COMMENT BELOW & SHARE!

 The grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it? That's what I thought when I first saw the list of topics for this talk. I picked it for obvious reasons; because it seemed different, I had strong feelings about the matter and first hand experiences. 

 

I'm sure many of you here are immigrants, have friends that come from other countries, or are related to someone who is originally foreign. Every year, more and more people move to places like: America, the United Kingdom, Canada - countries that are more economically developed, that offer benefits, better wages, free healthcare and most importantly, a fresh start. It's normal to dream of a perfect home, perfect job, prefect LIFE! It might just be one step too far, to leap into the unknown in search of all these things. Nonetheless, many risk everything.

 

Everyone gets caught up by the illusion sometimes, whether it's because you feel that someone has a gadget 'you'd kill for ' or a glamorous mansion, let's face it; the other side of the fence may not be as green as it seems. The majority of people are stubborn enough to experience it first-hand- they have to learn through their mistakes. But what could we do to avoid this problem? It's hard enough being tempted by an illusion, let alone spending you life savings to immigrate to an 'out-of-this-world paradise'?

 

Wherever you travel in the world, the grass will always seem greener. This is  until reality hits - the bombshell you perpetually encounter!

 

There will be issues you had never considered before, for example: your child being bullied at school, knowing your way around town, or even helping your child with schoolwork- this may be a intricate activity, especially if you're not particularly great at English. Once you settle in the new environment, the truth unravels bit by bit. The cultural and language barriers are noticeable sooner or later. Many people I know that come from foreign countries all agree on this one, vital point; they often feel underestimated and lonely because of the language barrier - they don't have the courage to take a step forward and be bold, their afraid someone who's first language is English, will confront them and make them look like a complete fool. Some of you may not believe this, but it's true - communicating with a person from your native country, in your native language, isn't and will never, ever be the same as communicating with someone in your second language from a different country. I am aware that at the moment, the majority of you may by thinking that this is an extremely simple point, but think again. A large number of you have never had the opportunity to experience this first-hand, yet if you ask those who have; it's as if the way they've have been brought up, and the country in which they've set their roots in, determine how they feel when they talk to others.

 

We have many choices these days- a lot more than we did a hundred years ago. It's thanks to technology, the internet and improved society, our lifestyles have completely changed. I'm certain, my great great grandmother never even got a taster of the freedom we have in the 21st century. She married young, had five kids, cooked dinner, cleaned the cottage and the only entertainment she got, was an occasional gossip with the other housewives in the village. She worked hard all her life, never fulfilling her potential, never really having a career. There wasn't one day when she didn't struggle, her life was a never-ending maze of problems; poverty, lack of opportunity, repetitiveness, and boredom. There are moments when I wonder, if she ever dreamed of the greener side, of travelling into the unknown with just a single backpack. I have no doubt that she did, but then again, many parts of the world weren't as accessible back then.

 

Now we are free to do what we want after leaving school- go to university, establish our own businesses, serve clients on the other side of the world; the possibilities are countless.

 

But when there is a wealth of opportunities, choices, and places where we could choose to live, you’d think we’d all be happy, right? Wrong.

Haven't you ever noticed when you walk into a shop, have written a shopping list, and come out with more items then you originally planned to buy. Well, that's exactly like what the world offers now. The problem with having choices is that we become restless and indecisive. We can never settle with what we have and be satisfied. Once we're in, we're in for good. This is often referred to as 'the grass is always greener on the other side' syndrome. We make our lives miserable, because we feel that someone else's is better.

 

The only other component of the circuit, that weakens the battery is time. From a young age, we've always been taught that 'The World is our oyster'. There's always a sense of time pressure in everything we do, and the urgency in our decisions, often lead us to careless ones. This also blinds us. We can never really know how it feels to be on the other side unless we're there. That's why the disappointment is the end result, when the battery is out of power, when the illusion we've created looses the battle with reality.

 

It's only then that most of the human race, the ones that have the endless possibilities, the ones that live in a bubble, understand how lucky they really are, to have the people that love them around.

'The grass ain't always greener on the other side, it's green where you water it'. Some of you may have heard of this quote before, it most definitely tells us something about life. Don't expect the grass to be greener on the other side without any work. Reconsider you thoughts about others who are better of - they've watered their grass so it's YOUR TURN TO WATER YOURS!

 

And to finish of the day, here are some thought-provoking quotes ---->