<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nothing’s tougher than living overseas alone. If you’re from a tropical country with lots of sunshine and beaches, loneliness is defined by snow during Christmas. It’s also the isolated cry of a muezzin in the dark of dawn. Your loved ones are celebrating together, while you toil by yourself, maybe even working during holidays. If you are to survive, though, you have to </span><a href="https://www.trueprofile.io/member/resources/top-5-tips-before-working-abroad" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">stay positive</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How to stay positive when you live overseas</span></h2>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Happiness is a choice.</span></h3>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/QOTD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#QOTD</a> “Happiness, like unhappiness, is a proactive choice.” – Stephen R. Covey <a href="https://t.co/VWEHgldclZ">pic.twitter.com/VWEHgldclZ</a></p><p>— Stephen R. Covey (@StephenRCovey) <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenRCovey/status/870290147031601152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 1, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
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<p><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yes, you can feel lonely, you can feel homesick, and there are days when you just want to pack it in and go home. It never goes well if you dwell on your misery. Make a conscious effort to lift your mood up. As Stephen Covey advices in his book “</span><a href="https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">”,</span><a href="https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit1.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> be proactive</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. This also includes being proactive regarding your state of mind. Don’t dwell on things that you can’t change. You can only be responsible for things that you can control. If you can control it, you can change it. </span></p></script></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Stay busy and connect with people</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is a cliché about idle minds becoming the devil’s playground. Ennui, listlessness, and loneliness are magnified when you have a lot of time to brood. Stay busy by getting a new hobby, exercising, and building up your network overseas. Making new friends does not mean replacing old ones. It’s just that you need a support system around you since you are in a foreign place.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">See the bright side</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Life, as they say, is not all rainbows and butterflies. That is a truism whether you are in your home country or overseas. You can choose to be home with your family, or you can choose to provide a better future for your family abroad. You are fortunate in that you have the experience of living in a different country, something that others can only dream about.</span></p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="682" src="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-208165-1024x682.jpg" alt="How to Stay Positive When You Live Overseas" class="wp-image-9628" title="How to Stay Positive When You Live Overseas" srcset="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-208165-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-208165-300x200.jpg 300w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-208165-768x512.jpg 768w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-208165-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-208165.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Stay away from negativity</span></h3>
<div class="wp-block-image size-medium wp-image-4662"><figure class="alignleft size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="682" src="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-415380-1024x682.jpg" alt="How to Stay Positive When You Live Overseas" class="wp-image-9630" title="How to Stay Positive When You Live Overseas" srcset="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-415380-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-415380-300x200.jpg 300w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-415380-768x512.jpg 768w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-415380-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/pexels-photo-415380.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Choose to be happy!</figcaption></figure></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even plants die when their gardener is constantly bombarding them with unhappy things. A friend of mine was assigned to take care of the convent garden and she says they died one by one. She was </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">only</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> telling them all of her heartaches in life. Identify the things that stress you out, whether it’s political news from home, or negative people who likes to gossip and feed you bad vibes. Avoidance in this case is healthier.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">Your thoughts show in your body language</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are times when you’re down. Your shoulders may slump, and your </span><a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/laraparker/things-that-only-happen-to-people-who-have-resting-bitch?utm_term=.df5zj7YDE#.splvjyO1w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">RBF</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is activated. You know what? Smile. For no particular reason. Square your shoulders, stand up tall, and smile at the day. You’ll feel way better. </span></p>
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