Impressions of USA from a different perspective
May 8. 2016 by Bojan
What is your default?
When you live in one country for a long while, your lifestyle and living standard become a default. You base your experiences on your default, and everything else becomes foreign. When I moved to USA I compared everything to my life in Belgrade. After initial discomfort of being in a foreign environment, USA became a new norm, a benchmark against which I compare other things in my life, including my past life in Serbia.
The Biggest Difference.
Most of the changes I feel internally, as a consequence of living in abundance, and being self sufficient.
However, I feel that the biggest difference lies in the mindset and the expectations about the outcome of the general population. In Serbia we frequently say something along the lines: “Be quite, it could be worse”, while in USA people are mostly thinking of the future and how it will be better than now. This slight difference in the collective mindset is creating a big difference on the destiny of the entire nation.
Serbia went through a lot of wars, and all these emotional scars are left on the collective consciousness of the people. Me being ultimately positive thinker, I was in a disconnect with the rest of my countrymen. They always thought I was the odd ball, and that my optimism has no basis in their reality. When I came to USA, I felt that my mindset is closer to the modus operandi of the entire country.
Overcoming the initial discomfort
My initial discomfort comes from knowing that failing in America is real, especially as an immigrant that doesn’t have all the support that a legal citizen has. I am referring to health care, social security support and other things of similar nature. In this scenario failing means being evicted…
Regardless of improved outlook and outcome, I’ve been emotionally paralyzed from fear of the initial hardships of establishing myself in a different country. Fear of failing got me in an emotional spasm, pushing me far far beyond my limits. This helped me achieve the next level.
Overblown Fears
This fear was a self imposed illusion. After a while I realized that my version of failing means I would be forced to do the job that I don’t like, and not live up to the idea of myself.
Without student loan debt, with fear of car repossession and other inconveniences that average American of my age goes through on daily basis, I’ve got it pretty easy.
The Outcomes
There are no limits to success in general. The environment is an environment we choose to be in. There are ways of shutting down the external negative influence, whether you are in US or whether you are in Serbia, or Ethiopia. Your reality becomes the product of your thoughts. Certainly it is easier here, but the ultimate responsibility lies in your thought process. Perhaps you can’t choose where were you born, but you can choose what you are thinking, and there are no excuses for it.
You can take the ultimate responsibility for your entire life, and at that point you will be liberated from the collective consciousness and shackles it may impose on you. You are free, whether you live in North Korea, or in USA, because nobody can rob you from independent thinking process.
Featured Posts
2023-03-16 Daily Work Notes
March 16. 2023