Lessons away from home

I have been having vivid dreams and I have been waking up at odd hours (to use the bathroom) but find myself experiencing difficulties returning back to sleep. In those moments, I find myself thinking about the vivid dreams that I had and I knew I had to wake up and pen those thoughts down.

You drifted off to sleep easily enough. But all of a sudden, it's 4 a.m. and you're wide awake. What gives? To an extent, this phenomenon -- called middle insomnia, or difficulty maintaining sleep -- is normal. Age can also be a factor; Findley notes that people tend to wake up more often during the night as they get older.

- Huffington Post

Anyway, the point is that as the date where we return back home draws nearer, I guess I am consciously thinking about what this experience here has taught me. So here goes:

1. That there are so many things we can be thankful about to live in Singapore

The grass always seems to be greener on the other side. While I do appreciate the experience to be living away, there are undoubtedly things I miss back home. The food, the ease of transport, the predictability of the weather, and most of all family and friends. I can whip up some (very little) local food but I can't conjure up the presence of family and friends. Their absence in our lives is so clear- so much so that our living habits have changed quite a bit.

From relying on mom and dad to prepare meals, we have to take ownership of that.
From hanging out with friends on the weekends, it's now mostly just time with each other.

I mean we do have some friends we hang out with here, but it is just not the same.
But as a result of being alone most of the time, I think we got to know each other on a deeper level.

2. Perception of things

I mean I do complain about things being expensive or places being far away. But I do find myself getting used to it. Like watching a movie here can cost $26 but if you find the right deals, you can find tickets going for as low as $12. Or travelling to dance (3 times a week now) takes slightly more than an hour which includes waiting for bus, changing of bus (no kid) and walking to the studio. I mean I wouldn't really do that back home but my perception of distance and time has changed quite a bit, it doesn't really feel like much now. If anything, I am more than happy to be on the rides.

So I think that's great; I learnt how to make the best of things. This experience has taught me to live in the moment and appreciate the good in what we have as opposed to longing for something that is out of reach.

So anyway, these are the two things that I thought about in those moments when I try so hard to go back to sleep. And yeah if we were given an opportunity to do this all over again, I'm sure both Joel and I would not hesitate to say yes.

Also, not being in an absolute comfort zone, it has taught us to lean into God for strength and provision and seeing how faithful and good he is to us. While we haven't had everything we want, we have everything we need.

Abrupt end.