Going back

This is to all the ones who ever had to ‘go back to where you come from’, be it to a previous place or situation in life. To those who had to let go of their dream when they realized that it had ended and then had to go out and find a new dream. To those who stood at the cross roads of life once again and had to change the direction they were going because circumstances made it so.

One of my friends has left Alanya this summer to go back to Holland and start all over again. We both moved here at the same time almost exactly five years ago. We both had a dream for ourselves back then and so many hopes and plans and intentions of how this new life in Alanya was going to be. And looking back now from where we stand today, so much of it came true and so many things didn’t. And other things happened that we never could have imagined at that time. That’s life, you may say… doing what it does so we get better and stronger and wiser as the years pass by.

It wasn’t an easy decision for her. And certainly not something she had wanted had she been given a choice. But it was very necessary and she had found the courage to look reality in the eye and take action. Going back takes strength. And bravery. And acceptance of your kismet. Which sometimes can be the hardest thing of all when things turn out to be so different from what you had planned for the future. And maybe the hardest thing of all is not to feel like you have failed. Like you didn’t succeed at what you had sailed out to do. And not to get angry at life for treating you so unfair.

I hope that all of you who had to pack your bags to ‘go back’ at some point of your life, for whatever reason, know that you have not lost your battle. 

Because there is no battle. 

There is only you. You and your journey. 

And as long as we are breathing air into our lungs the journey continues. 

No matter what turn we take in life, we are always going forward. Always traveling. Always experiencing. There is no back to the old, back to the before. Back is only geographically. Not personally. You are still moving forward. You are still sailing, but the winds changed and you are adjusting your sails accordingly. That’s all. We don’t move on a linear line through life. No, we certainly don’t. We run freely, using our dreams and imagination as our only navigation tool. Life is a rollercoaster. It’s a free ride, up and down the hills, no safety belts, through mud and through rain, in sunlight and darkness, sometimes alone and sometimes in company. And as we journey through all of it, we may come across the same place twice, yes. But we are never the same person as we were before. We changed. And therefore the entire place around us changed.

So always remember that going back is still moving forward. And maybe this ‘unfortunate turn around’ may turn out to be a blessing in disguise later on. Because ending one dream is not The End, it is the beginning of a new dream. One that holds as many new opportunities for you again as there are stars in the skies. So keep chasing your dreams, dear ones, whether it is here or there. Keep traveling, keep your mind and heart open and keep faith always. 
Choose to believe that you will be fine. 
As you will be. 

Love,