The life of an expatriate wife! It's a roller coaster ride..

Living the life of an expatriate wife has its challenges. It also has a huge potential to do many things.
It is all up to you!

We have all seen, read, heard, talked about this positive self motivation stuff and how it's portrayed as being easy.

Pick yourself up by the bootstraps!

It's greener on the other side!

You can do whatever you want, just think it and it will happen!

You are your own worst enemy!

Meditate!

Do yoga!

Go to the gym!

The list can go on and on and on...

BUT,
For this to even begin to happen, you have to have some form of inner driver. Not all of us possess that drive, or it has simply gone to sleep. We go down the road of depression, can start self medicate, meet and mingle with the wrong people that will not help, start many different projects that lead to nowhere.
Even if you have that drive, it can still be a rough road to travel.

When our children were little, this life was easy as it can come. Such a privilege to be able to stay at home and be with them. What we didn't know in the beginning was how crucial that was. Older one had/has ADHD and even our family doctor laughed when I eventually came and asked him about this and said 'I was wondering when you would come and ask'. Loved that doctor!
Our younger one proved to be equipped with ADD.
Being the expatriate wife, and stay at home, since I was prevented from working outside of the house, this did not stop me from doing things.
When it was time for kindergarten etc for our older, there was no place for him to go. International schools too expensive, and the waiting list way to long. I organized a summer playgroup program for his age group, and that was so successful and in high demand, that it carried on in to the fall. I had no idea that there were children at the age of 4 that had been kicked out of their kindergarten classes and schools.
So, all of a sudden I had this amazing group of fast moving children, that loved exploring the outside world. 2 1/2 years later many siblings were also a part of this group. When I had to stop because we were moving, that group was turned in to a parent cooperative and kept running.

Fast forward, a few moves later, and school had been a disaster and back, we settled on home schooling. We did this for 6 years, and to this day, those years is what our sons draw their strength from, their planing and organization, the knowledge they gained about themselves, what makes them tick and function. They have moved away from home and are living their own lives.

So, back to the expatriate wife life. What do you do, now that you no longer are busy?
A depression sets in, time passes, until you realize it's up to you to do/be that change. It took me close to 3 years before before my own inner drive woke up, and things started to fall in to place. You learn new things, you make sure to meet people, keep busy as much as you can under the strange circumstances you find yourself in.
Today, I am close to finish with my classes in fashion jewelry making.
At the same time I am homeschooling again! That daughter I never had, is coming to finish school with me.

Life move in very strange circles at times. If you are long enough in a place, those things that you are supposed to do, will cross your path and things will happen.
I am truly lucky to have this inner drive, an entrepreneurial thirst for new things and make things work.