One year ago today was the top three most stressful times in my life. Smack dab in the middle of the time that we decided we were going to sell everything we owned and move to Iceland.
It was the waiting game that was the worst. It takes a LONG time to see if a country will allow you to work and live there. FBI background check, multiple applications and rounding up official documents, work permit, residence permit…it never seemed to end!
Not to mention we had given notice to leave our jobs and apartment while we were still waiting to hear from immigration, based on my boss telling us that “the timing would all work out.” They said go ahead and buy your flight, confident that we would hear back in time. (FYI, you can’t enter a country on a work visa before that work visa is approved!) I was freaking out. I was NOT the kind of person that buys a flight to move to another country before everything is in place.
þetta reddast, they told me.
It was SO stressful wondering if this would even go through, or if we would be homeless, jobless, and stuffless! And don’t forget thoughts like “oh shit, should we really do this?!” What if they don’t like us and fire us after 3 months?! What if we don’t like them? What if we just sold our whole life and it doesn’t work out?!
I can’t even begin to tell you how overwhelmed and stressed I felt.
I used to be a classic type A person. Easily stressed, and have to be on the go at all times. We used to have skype conversations with my boss, and I would always have a huge list of questions. What kind of healthcare would we get? When can we buy a vehicle? How will we learn the language? What if we don’t make friends?
And much, MUCH more.
When we finally bought our one-way ticket ticket, it was a sprint until the day we got on the plane.
First we sold our furniture, and then we had to separate the rest into things we were going to sell, and things we were going to bring with us in a suitcase. I was constantly running around like a crazy person. I had lists and lists and lists. I had a color coded highlighting system. I woke up at 3am because I couldn’t sleep and just started DOING STUFF.
“Are we packing the right things? What size storage unit will we need? Where are we going to LIVE when we get there?!”
Enter my favorite Icelandic saying, “þetta reddast”.
It roughly means everything will all work out. Things will work out in the end. No matter how big the problem, a solution will always find a way.
And you know what happened?! We landed. We found a place to live. We started our job. We have health care, we’ve made friends, and we are learning the language.
It’s the scary unknown part that gets us. The fear that we might fail. Knowing that your life is going to drastically change and we don’t really know what’s on the other side.
But it all does work out. I wouldn’t have believed it myself at the time, but it does. Sometimes it works out even better than you think, and that’s the best case scenario!
Life is sometimes a big scary mess, but it can also be an amazing adventure.
I’m so unbelievably glad that we set our fears aside and took the leap. Iceland and living abroad has changed me in a very good way, and I’m thankful for this awesome experience every day!
þetta reddast!
Question: Are you a worrier or do you feel like everything will work out okay?
