8 Reasons Why ‘Culture Shock’ Can Change Your Life For The Better

We’ve all experienced ‘culture shock’ at one point in our lives. When we travel to a new country or study abroad or move for work. While the early stages of culture shock can be very irritating and slightly depressing, once you get past the initial shock and adjust to the new culture, you will realize that culture shock actually made you grow more as a person and changed your life for the better.

1. It makes you a stronger person.

You develop thicker skin because you have to deal with a lot of stressful situations and long periods of loneliness and unfamiliarity. We build our strength when we step out of our comfort zone and force ourselves to deal with situations that are new to us.

2. It makes you more confident.

As you will constantly be faced with uncomfortable situations, you will learn to calm your nerves and stop worrying about how others may perceive you. You will learn to rely on yourself a lot more than you used to and even laugh at yourself when you do something completely ‘out of culture.’

3. You meet a lot of new people.

You will have conversations you never thought you’d have and make friends from places you’ve never even heard of. You will start having a different approach to friendships, you will expand your circle of friends from different backgrounds that will give you a new perspective on the world and on yourself.

4. It evokes inspiration.

It will undoubtedly bring out your inner creative. The comedian, the writer, the architect and the designer. You begin the journey of self-discovery and introspection. When you feel like no one around you understands who you are or where you’re coming from, you are forced to find a creative outlet to connect with as you start feeling more in-tune with your inner-self and becoming more open to explore your creative potential.

5. It gives you free education.

Traveling is the best way to learn about the world and meeting people is the best way to know who they really are. Culture shock gives you this opportunity because you will have more time to actually engage in all these cultural activities and get to know people more closely. It can be a great source of education and even clearing some of the misconceptions you had. It gives you a fresh perspective on a variety of issues.

6. You will eventually know who you are and what you want.

You will be able to define your values and your beliefs. We only know what are values are when they are being tested. Culture shock helps you either reinforce your old values and beliefs or get rid of some of them that no longer make sense to you. Overall, you will become more of a complete individual. Sometimes we have to travel far away to find ourselves, and sometimes changing what’s outside is the only way to change what’s inside.

7. It gives you the tools to success.

Curiosity & adaptability go hand in hand with culture shock. You will be curious about why people do the things they do and how you can adapt to it. On a larger scale, curiosity and adaptability are the keys to success in all aspects of life; especially the fast-paced and ever changing life we live in. It will also make you replace the fear of the unknown or fear in general with curiosity and excitement.

8. It gives you a chance to start over.

You get a chance to be someone else and start over, when everything is new and foreign to you and when no one knows you who you are, you get a once in a lifetime chance to start a new story and erase all the previous chapters of your life. It gives you a chance to rethink some of your old beliefs or the rules you blindly followed. It will inspire to become the person you always wanted to be-or even better.