Overseas workers often have to leave their family behind. Your mother, father, wife, children, pets, and friends are left behind. Even if you’re a young millennial, you most likely have somebody special left back home. How do you ensure that your relationship will endure given that you’re not physically with them? That you will not be there to wipe your children’s tears when they fall?
Common goal and all aboard
When you go abroad, it usually is for the future of your family. It usually means that you will be paid several times over what you would normally receive had you stayed back home. Is your family fully onboard with the financial goal? Is your sacrifice in enduring a year or two alone appreciated by your family? Have a talk with them and hash out how you’re planning to go about this separation. It may be necessary to have a one-on-one talk with each of your children to make them understand.
Constant communication without going overboard
A simple message of good morning and good night will not cut it. It’s both inane and shallow. Do a video call at least two times a week. Knowing what’s happening in each others’ lives is necessary to feed your relationship. You can’t really love a person you don’t know. And a person evolves with each day that passes, more so if they’re going through changes. Just don’t do it every day as that would get exhausting. You also have to learn to appreciate living abroad by going out and making friends. You can’t live your life in miserable isolation the whole time you’re overseas.
Stay away from temptations
You know that guy who’s constantly flirting with you? Stay away from him. Keep it professional. Don’t even think about entertaining private messages from him. It’s a slippery slope when you’re lonely and your family is on the other side of the world. There are a lot of memes about accidents happening when it isn’t an accident if you willingly participated. Shout “Stay away from me Satan!” if need be. I have a true story about my older cousin praying the rosary with her husband everyday whilst he was in Saudi via video call. Well, that worked, I could say.
Talk about your day and your feelings
You can do your video call while cooking. I helped my nephew with his assignment via Skype when I was abroad. Talk about nothing and everything. Talk about how bad your co-worker made you feel. Let them talk about their school bullies. Let your wife talk about her mother-in-law. There’s a lot to talk about even if you feel like there’s none. When you get back home, it will not feel like you’ve been gone forever.
If you have not already signed up to TrueProfile.io, sign up now!
