Moving into a new town might be hard for many people. After the first few weeks of stress with packing, unpacking, decluttering, and organizing things, the excitement of a fresh start usually vanishes. When initial optimism fades, you may feel lonely and desperate. To help you adjust to new circumstances when moving into a new town, your local movers from Fairfield, Connecticut, offer the following tips.
Explore
Your first goal to feel better is to create a sense of safety in a new town. However, it couldn’t be accomplished at once. It is rather a process of trial and error. Thus, start with small steps and be easy on yourself. Don’t try to organize all the mess. Rather, go out and explore your surroundings at least 15 minutes a day.
Start immediately and do it daily. This way, you will create a habit to go out and explore. The more you explore, the faster you’ll familiarize yourself with a new town.
Keep in mind that relationships are the cornerstone of your sense of safety
When you take a leap and try to settle into a new town, it might feel scary. You go into the uncharted territory where you don’t know anyone. However, to build new relationships you need time. For that reason, you may want to create a strategy on how to meet people and then, continue appearing in certain places to keep your relationships going.
Create a new network
One of the good strategies might be to ask your friends before moving whether they know someone in a town you want to settle in. You may also find digital media handy to find potential acquaintances in a new place. Just announce that you are about to move into a new town, without giving your full address, of course.
Once you find those people, act friendly and don’t act desperately. Let them inviting you for lunch if they want. Keep a positive attitude and don’t expect much. You will be surprised how approachable people can be when they don’t feel pressure and expectations.
Be more open and friendly
Sometimes, you may take many actions and meet many people, but still, you struggle to create relationships that will help you feel at home. That may mean that you need to change your attitude. When you are about to make contact with strangers, you won’t get much if you are emotionally closed and reserved. Not to mention how easy people will reject your efforts to socialize if they feel your desperation and fear.
Having that in mind, you may want to adopt a new relaxation technique, practice meditation, or do some prayers that may help you open up toward people and new life experiences. Your goal is to take a positive attitude and not expecting much at the beginning. Just practice being kind and friendly. Be patient and let people get to know you and learn about you. At the same time, respect their time and space. Even though you most likely don’t want to rush things, don’t forget to take initiative and suggest the next meeting.
Let go of expectations
Even though expectations may look like a good and positive thing on a superficial level, they may pave the way for disappointment and depression later. To avoid this scenario, stay calm and curious about new things. When you meet new people or go to new places, try to learn more about them out of pure curiosity. This attitude will help you be present and gain a fresh perspective on the world around you.
Keep the ties with your past life strong
When you get too optimistic about a fresh start and create too many expectations, you might easily forget to take care of your past ties. Don’t try to cut down the old relationships in order to get a fresh start. It won’t work. This might be especially true if you see your move to a new town as an escape from a bad relationship or uncomfortable past experiences.
To feel safe and comfortable with yourself, you need a sense of continuity. What may make you feel whole is embracing happy moments from your past life and disappointments, too. Because of that, visit the parts of your old town where you feel good about yourself and revive your memories.
You may also want to maintain relationships with your old friends and ask them to inform you about the highlights of their daily lives. It will help you feel as if you are still part of their social circle. It’ll be of huge help when you feel desperate and lonely being new in a new town. This will give you hope that you’ll find your tribe eventually and belong again.
Be compassionate with yourself
In the beginning, you may go through different stages of change. People usually go through five stages when getting accustomed to change: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
Depending on your particular stage, you may want to take action accordingly. For example, if you are in the denial phase, you most likely will try to avoid feeling the pain and the loss that come with moving into a new town. You may act too excitedly and try to seem happier than you feel. As a result, you may rush into actions until you lose all your energy.
Practice compassion toward yourself and take your time if you feel depressed. Instead of going out to socialize, respect your pace and allow yourself to feel comfortable with taking just one slow walk around your block. In the beginning, it’ll be enough—especially when you do that regularly. Within the time, you will gradually stretch your comfort zone and start feeling like at home.
Find your sweet spots in a new town
Your specific interests will help you discover your safe spots in a new town. For example, if you are an avid book reader, you may want to find a local library or a bookstore where you will naturally feel comfortable. For other people, it might be a fitness club or church. Whatever works for you is good until you visit these places on a regular basis and establish a routine. Having a routine usually helps people feel safe in a new place.
If you need additional help with moving into a new town, don’t hesitate to call your local moving company in Fairfield, Connecticut.
