“When everything seems to go well and there is nothing to complain about in your life, why should…

I am from France but never really felt like belonging to this country only, it’s like any place in this world could be my home. After my studies, i got a good job opportunity in Germany as a sales representative in a textile printing company. It gave me the chance to learn a lot about the textile industry, how to deal with customers, be really involved with business partners. It was hard work, a lot of pressure, but i got to learn a lot!

One day I was at work (in this textile company in Germany), replying to customer’s e-mails, sorting out administrative files etc… I cannot explain what happened, but suddenly i got up from my chair, walked automatically, like a robot, to the Human Resources Department, and quit my job. I was unhappy in my life, I could not really explain the reason why, but i knew at some point that I had to implement big changes in my life. So i resigned from my job, left my apartment two weeks later, bought a backpack and decided to leave my cozy life to experience a working holiday in Australia.

At some point of my life I brought too much attachment to what i was building. I was thinking about having a settled life, something usually people would call it “normal”. I knew inside my being that it was not for me, or at least that it was not the right time, the right situation, or the right person. But when everything seems to go very well and there is nothing to complain about in your life, why should you quit? It is something really hard for yourself to understand, but once you’ve made the decision, which is not easy, and specially people around you don’t understand either, you know that you have made the right choice.

I have always been attracted by India. I had this Bollywood cliché in my mind about this country, all the colors, saris, songs, food, Hindu religion, temples…this appealed me a lot but for safety reasons, as a girl travelling alone, I didn’t feel that it was safe to go there by myself, because of men’s sexual pressure. Then, I met my boyfriend who spent a few months in India. He convinced me that all this ideas were prejudices, that you can travel India safely if you follow some careful rules etc…so I decided to trust him and made the step, which i don’t regret!! After India I went to Nepal, spent a few days in an ashram, enjoying yoga, meditation and good food, before heading for a 3 weeks trekking in the Himalayan range, which was absolutely breathtaking!

I think that we should more think about our situation and what we have, be happy and grateful for this, instead of comparing our life with other’s, crave and think about what we don’t have. This is for me the secret for happiness.

— Mylena