Dubai: When British expat Janine Buxton decided to move to Dubai two years ago, she says she had hit rock bottom – after a failed personal relationship, and facing bankruptcy, she was desperate to do all it takes to sort life out.
Last week, she marked two years of making that move, and in those two years, not only has she been able to find her feet financially, but also begun a journey of healing.
“I came here determined to recover from bankruptcy, rebuild financially, but more importantly, find the person I had lost in a toxic relationship that took me to one of the darkest places of my life,” she said.
The opportunities Dubai presented were much more than any other place Buxton could think of.
“I said to my children at that time that I can’t make my money here. I’m going to go to Dubai, where I feel there is so much more potential. People go out there to make their dreams come true. So, with 3,000 pounds in my bank account I came to Dubai,” the 53-year old British expat said, laughing.
Janine Buxton, right, with her children, 24-year-old Blaine (left) and 21-year-old Lydia (centre).Choosing wellbeing
The two years, she says, have helped her rediscover herself and live a life more aligned with who she is.
As someone who had started off her career in the financial sector, Buxton says she first decided to work in that sector when she came to Dubai. As it would give her the highest chance of making money, if she was able to get the right deals.
But soon, she realised that the work was taking more out of her than she was now willing to give.
“I had just gotten out of a toxic relationship, and I told myself that I had to look after my wellbeing as well, it was not just about the money,” she said.
She then took on a role as the Chief Operation Manager at British Care, a midwifery and healthcare centre in the UAE, and the role, she says, allows her to be more true to her identity, delving more deeply into the relationship between personal development, emotional wellbeing and performance.
“I’m very much the kind of person who sees the potential in everyone, and wants everyone to succeed. I truly believe that no matter what, there is no reason we can’t all get along in this world,” she said.
As Buxton continued her path towards healing, one activity that made a world of difference was writing, something she says she took on because she was unable to afford therapy.
“I was healing myself by writing because it brought up some painful things,” she said.
Being able to work through those memories, and understanding how the experiences, which her brain had blocked out from conscious memory, shaped her actions and emotions.
They also helped her understand a simple truth about human behaviour – sometimes, what triggers our emotions and behaviours may be something we don’t even remember.
“I think we sometimes spend so much time trying to get on with life that we never really stop to ask ourselves why we react to certain things in the way we do. Our experiences shape us, but they don’t have to define the rest of our lives,” she said.
Finding purpose in Dubai’s opportunities
Her current job not only allows her to work with midwives at the centre, but also interact with new mums and dads, organising prenatal and postnatal classes.
“Children are like a blank canvas, so what you put in that little human is what they become. If you’ve got issues that you still haven’t worked on, don’t put it on the baby,” she said.
“I just feel like if we put a little bit more kindness, care and respect out there, it allows us to understand our own behaviour better. We can try and understand why we behaved a certain way or what triggered us, and then, we don’t pass on our traumas to the next generation,” she said.
This unexpected convergence of her personal values and beliefs and the work she is able to do professionally, has given Buxton the hope of building a future that feels more closely aligned with who she is today.
And that, she says, was only possible because of her decision to move to Dubai.
“I came to Dubai because you have so many more possibilities in Dubai than you do in most places. Everybody here has a mindset of achieving, they want to succeed. And there are so many networking events every night, so you can definitely achieve so much more here,” she said.
Her current job, too, was the result of a relationship she built over one such networking event, and that is just one example of how, in Dubai opportunities present themselves in ways that is not possible anywhere else.
The ‘Dubai-it’ mindset, of dreaming big and achieving those goals in a short span of time, is everywhere.
“For me, it’s that city where you land and walk around and just go ‘wow’. There is so much potential, and if you can embrace it and say, ‘I am going to make the best of this now and come out of my comfort zone’, there is so much potential,” Buxton said.
Another aspect that has not gone unnoticed for Buxton is how the country ensured the safety of everyone living in the UAE, during the regional conflict earlier this year.
“Honestly, I’ve never felt so protected and so at ease, knowing that I’m safe,” she said.
“For my children and me, Dubai is the place where there is so much more potential for me to succeed and make the money I need to make, so that I can go home and be with them,” she said.
