Live Outside your Comfort Zone

I have been living in Europe for most of my adult life. When I was 19 I joined the Air Force and lived in Italy for three years, then spent three years in GA and now four years in Germany. There is much to say about living in another country, but my focus is on the unknown.
As a military family, you are expected to move from place to place every few years. We all know this coming into it. However, moving overseas has its own unique set of issues. 1.) moving thousands of miles away from family. Whether your from the East coast, Southern Cali or Alaska, it doesn't much matter anymore, you are thousands of miles away from your family and that can be very hard, especially for the very young and those leaving home for the first time. 2.) The Language barrier. I took about 5 years of Spanish from high school to college, meaning that living in Italy was not too bad, however, the German language is a completely different cat and besides learning the basics, I know very little of the language; this can make living here difficult.
I see and hear of many individuals here that will not shop on the economy, will not go to restaurants that they don't know for certain speak English and for the most part relinquish themselves to a life of "base." They live on base, shop on base (the produce and meat are awful) and all activities are confined to base. What is most disheartening, is many of these people will often tout their hatred for living here and spend their entire tour waiting for it to end.
Why am  I writing about this on a blog about fitness? There is more to a healthy, fit life than just exercising and fitting into your skinny jeans. Fitness builds confidence and not just the kind that lets you strap on that amazing new halter top, the kind that transfers into everyday life. The kind that allows you to say, well I am just going to try and see what happens. Whether it mean pointing to a German menu and hoping you don't end up with a plate of Schwein liver or ordering a meat at the deli counter and hoping its actually chicken, fitness will help you build the confidence you need to succeed in anything you try.
This does not just pertain to living overseas, its just the example that made my mind flow. Fitness will grant you the confidence to try for that raise, open that business, or go back to school. Fitness is about living a general healthy lifestyle both physically and mentally. It's not about counting calories and exercising till you drop, its about feeling well....not good...but well. Overall wellness is the key to success and fitness is a great way to get the ball rolling :) Happy Sunday.