Lessons I learned so far

I'm writing an essay about this in my swedish class right now, so it inspired me to do a blogpost about this. 

It's not so bad.

Being grateful

More than anytime in my life I feel grateful. For the whole adventure I got to go on, and for all the small things that are atually pretty big, that I always took for granted. Like having enough to eat, having a place to sleep, having good people around me, being loved, being abe to do what I want to do.

You're so much stronger than you think

I often feel like I've reached my limit. But that's not true. I still got a lot of energy. And I fixed so many difficulties. You solve one problem and then you solve another problem and after that you solve another problem. But that's fine.

I got limits

I also had to learn the opposite. That there are limits. And sure, stepping over a certain line a little bit is always good. It's the only way to success. But you shouldn't go to far. I learned it the hard way, when I studied super much in the beginning. I spent many days on translating swedish texts. It helped me a lot with my swedish but I felt burned out after a while. And this is not what I came here for. So I had to admit, that I do have limits. And that I should listen to myself more.

Trying new things is a good way to get to know yourself better

I started painting for example. I was never interested in art, I always thought I couldn't paint, but I started to enjoy it very much. Or pole dancing, which seemed like the weirdest thing to do, but now I'm very passionated about it. And weird swedish food of course. I say YES to everything. Well most of the time :)

I also learned to be more honest with others and myself.



Health

I learned that health is the most valuable thing to have. Mentally and physically. The exchange year is often exhausting, (especially in the beginning) and if I wasn't healthy I couldn’t enjoy this. Also I put on some weight and it does not bother me. It just makes me even more healthy. So I'm really grateful for not having any health problems.