This morning I walked in to the small café beside my house, smiled to the bartender named Tony, waved to a couple of old ladies, sitting in the corner and grabbed a freshly baked ‘brioche alla crema’. It felt so natural that I did not even have to think about it. Later when I was sipping my aromatic decaffeinated cappuccino and scanning the headlines of the morning paper left on the table it dawned on me that not so long ago Milan was a beautiful, yet absolutely foreign city to me. I could not understand a word of Italian and had no idea that it was considered bad form to order a cappuccino after midday.

In just 3 years of living in Italy I have come to love this country with its strange life rhythms, genial people and mouth-watering food. It has taught me the beauty of taking pleasure in tiny things, like a hearty plate of pasta or a purposeless stroll along the cobble streets of the old city. I have learned to cry at romantic movies and laugh at jokes in more than one language. And I have met so many wonderful friends who, it seems now, have always been a part of my life.

My life experience of living abroad has taught me how to push myself beyond my boundaries and lead my life without second-guessing. Here are the three lessons that I have learned:

Lesson #1. Life is meant to be lived bravely.

Do you remember the adrenalin rush when you had to talk in front of a big group of people? Or when you first put on skates and almost lost your balance? Or when you walked up to a person that you liked and offered to grab a cup of coffee together?

I have been there myself and every time I overcame my fear, my confidence grew and my skills improved.
Certain situations in life require us to take risks and act boldly. And deep down we know that it is better to try and fail than to spend years haunted by thoughts “ I should have done…”, “What If I had tried…”, “I wish I had the guts to explain my feelings…”

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