THESE days, going abroad is not easy. Horrible stories come like wildfire telling us that once you get a visa or face an immigration officer, your world turns upside down.
But this is not always the case.
When I applied for a US visa, I prepared all the needed documents from birth certificate to office clearance. I once saw a post on Facebook that the applicants brought all the documents from land titles to bank accounts as well. I almost wanted to bring them too just to be sure in case the officer would look for it.
Many stories about how hard it is to get a visa circulated around, so I was hesitant too.
But the stories I heard were a myth in my case.
To make the story short, I was granted a visa without showing the documents I prepared. The officer never asked for any document except for the nature of my work here. It wasn't hard after all.
Then came the travel abroad. I also read the news on the yearbook thing where the traveler was offloaded.
She didn't make it on her flight. Again, I was hesitant and I made sure I had all kinds of documents with me including the e-travel. Well, without the yearbook thing.
The officer did not ask me to show any documents. I was just asked about my purpose and my schedule for my return.
In short, it was stress-free. The stress I thought I had was a product of my overthinking. I think this is the problem with many of us.
We overthink. We immediately conclude that what happens to others will always happen to us.
We forget that challenges and problems are isolated cases. They occur in our lives as a product of our previous experiences and situations or as a result of our actions.
When we overthink, we have these automatic negative thoughts. Most of the harm comes from our own thoughts. These are the thoughts, mostly negative, that pop up unguarded.
This is the reason why overthinking becomes a problem. We think ahead, and sometimes we focus on the negativities.
What we allow to dwell in our thoughts will always leave an impact. So, let us replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
Or we just let go and let God. We let go of negative thoughts and acknowledge God to lead us, and submit our lives to Him.
So, when you plan to get a visa or travel abroad, or do anything that you want to do, think of positive outcomes first. Do not get so affected by stories passed from one mouth to another with exaggerations and misrepresentations in between.
Just plan ahead, prepare yourself, and trust your strength and creativity to do things. After all, God has always given you what you need.
