I always feel strange whenever I look at pictures taken in Perth by friends and random people online.

“Hey…I know that place! I used to do…”

“It would be nice to be back again…” etc etc

Though I always have the choice to pack my bag and to “venture to another country” anytime, I’ve chosen to forgo this freedom. I called it the “freedom to lose the freedom“.

travelling

Many have told me:“You should have gone to Sydney! Better opportunity there! The exposure..and everything”

Ask me last year, I would have agreed.

But this time, I have chosen the other path. I am staying here, to complete my studies and for as long as I am needed here.

I like the freedom to be able to lose the freedom to move around. Simply because, I have the freedom to choose what I cherish the most. I don’t think what’s BEST FOR ME ALONE works for me now. I have to think what is best for two.

I know it well that I would be ended up staying in Australia for many years to come if I go, leaving once again what I have built in Singapore. You see, most of my friends do not last for 5 years.

My friend TH told me,“We must be friends for more than 5 years, ok?”

Though I nodded back then, I can’t help having the second thought behind my mind. These people have become my secondary family members.

For the first time, I actually STOPPED thinking of moving away. You see, I started to move around since I was 6 years old. My first stop was leaving to another state to pursue my studies in a primary school that I HAD CHOSEN by myself.

I remember telling my mom when I was 5, that I wanted to move to Penang to study in a particular school. She had to send me off in tears.

After high school, I chose to go to the States to do my degree. Once again, she was upset because “it was too far”. Thus Australia. And again, she sent me off in tears….many many times for years.

When I was working in Australia, I never stopped thinking of moving to other countries. I applied jobs in several countries. Subsequently, I moved to Singapore, which I told myself that I would move again after 2-3 years.

I made my decision to stay just last week. I thought it was going to be tough but boy I felt good! Never thought making a decision like this could be this easy…I guess because I have learned what is best and most important to me now.

Is that what people called “settling down“? It was never in my dictionary but now I think it is.:)

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