You Don't Know What You Don't Know

I am on Pinterest quite frequently.  I really enjoy browsing around the pictures, getting ideas, and giggling at the funny ones.

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of quotes about being uncomfortable...

I am CONVINCED the people who wrote these quotes do not actually know what being uncomfortable feels like.  Living in a different country, you pretty much feel uncomfortable about 80% of the time. I knew nothing... and I mean nothing... about this feeling before coming to Germany.

I'm not saying I don't agree with these posters.  I do, 100%... I recommend stepping about 4,000 miles outside of your comfort zone because it makes a world of a difference.  However, I have to say that that it took me over a year of this constant feeling to actually be okay with it.

What does that mean?  Am I saying that I'm comfortable with being uncomfortable?  Isn't that an oxymoron?

All I'm saying is, I've had my fair share of this feeling in the past 2 and a half years, and that whatever idea I had about being uncomfortable before... I was wrong.  I would gladly put myself in my so-called uncomfortable positions from way back when.  However, you can only find this out through experience.  You don't know what you don't know and you'll never find out without living it on your own...

Uncomfortable is sitting in a room full of people speaking a different language (possible about you), and not having a clue as to what they are saying. 

Uncomfortable is laying in your bed realizing that you are 100% alone in this foreign country, and there isn't anyone to sit down with to have a conversation in your own language. (This isn't true anymore, but there were a few months here in Germany where this was actually the case).

Uncomfortable is being yelled at at work from someone in German and not having any clue at all as to what you did wrong and why they're mad.

Uncomfortable is going to a party where you don't know anyone, except for the host, nor do you even speak the language to be able to get to know other people there.  So you basically end up pretending to understand other people's conversations by shaking your head and laughing along with the group.  Meanwhile, they could have just said, "Your the ugliest person I've ever seen," and you just laughed and agreed with them 

Getting the idea?

I'm almost only excited to get back to the U.S. (whenever that may be) just to totally rock the situations that I stressed out about before.  After everything I've done since being in Germany, I feel like I could take on any situation thrown at me in my own country in my mother language.  Bring. It. On.