How to grow me up

With dreams and hopes, take a step forward, and in time when you grow up, you will taste the sweet fruits that await.

I was in Korea and came to New Zealand to guide meditation.

It's already been four years since I started living abroad. Now I've adapted well and I'm happily writing blog posts. But when I first came to New Zealand, I had a lot of difficulty adjusting and getting to know the language, culture, food, and people, as it was my first time living abroad.

Especially the part about language. This was the most difficult, because of my lack of basic English. When I saw people talking together in conversation, I couldn't understand what they were saying. It felt like I was living in a different world. I felt alone and frustrated.

So, with high expectations and dreams, I put a lot of time and effort into learning English. One time I had an opportunity to greatly improve my English language skills.

When was that? What could it have been?

That was when I realised I couldn't speak English very fluently.

Yes, I lacked a lot of basics in English, and I came abroad at a late age to learn another language. But I didn't know myself exactly, and I only had vague dreams and hopes that someday I would be able to speak English fluently.

However, as soon as I acknowledged and accepted my limitations, my perspective on English changed.

I started to see my level of English objectively, without vague dreams and hopes. So, being realistic, I started learning Toddler English.

After acknowledging my limitations, I felt a sense of accomplishment even in small things, and I was able to focus on moving forward step by step.

Prior to accepting my level of English, I was thinking to myself that I will say this and that to people when I become fluent.

However, when I acknowledged my level of English, I was able to reach out and talk to people first.

After a day, two days, a month, and a year, I was able to find myself growing up differently from before.

Making me grow

The first step in growing myself is the ability to look at myself objectively.

Thanks to meditation every day, I was able to see myself objectively and quickly.

The next step is to acknowledge where you are at with yourself and take steps slowly toward your goal.

I'm slowly taking steps toward another goal. Now, the journey step by step is not difficult but is my joy and happiness.