Making the decision to move abroad is not a decision that comes easy to many expatriates and when their decision is met with resistance it can be extremely stressful and confusion. At a time when you’re looking from support from your family and friends, you may sadly find that it is not forthcoming and bad reactions to your plans to relocate may seriously impact your relationships.
In order to deal with this you need to try and understand the reasons behind the opposition. People may react badly to the news that you are moving overseas because they are jealous, others may be worried that you may be making a mistakes and others still may be angry that you are leaving them behind or, in the case of your children, taking them with you. Here are some of the more common forms of opposition that you may come across:
Once you have tried to understand the reason behind an individual’s negative reception to the news that you are moving overseas, you will be better placed to deal with their behavior. Here are some tips for staying in control and preventing their reactions from having a negative impact on your emotions.
1) Limit how much you talk about the move. While moving abroad will represent a major life-changing event for you, try and avoid spending all of your time talking about it, especially in front of those people who are not in agreement with your decision to leave. Make sure you that you also maintain a keen interest in the lives of those around you, even if their daily lives may not be quite as exciting as yours.
2) Keep your own concerns to yourself. If some people are trying to scare you out of your move overseas, ensure that you do not add fuel to their fire by sharing your own anxieties with them. Save your own worries for people who you know you can trust to give you an unbiased and well-measured opinion.
3) Educate people. If those around you are seemingly ignorant to what life in your host country will really be like, educate them and help them to understand why their views are misguided.
4) Communicate regularly. Make sure that you keep in touch with your friends and family back home on a regular basis and that you share details of your life overseas with them. Including them in your life will help them to accept the decision you have made and, just maybe, they may even start to understand it.
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