August 25, 2010
Posted by Tariq Ismail
Journey Home
Its remarkable how quickly time flies. Its already been a month and half since I’ve moved back to Dubai. It all happend so quickly. One moment I was still in summer school and the next moment I was frantically selling my furniture and packing my stuff. July 20th I dropped my personal belongings and car off to a freight forwarding company, who’s owner was kind enough to then drop me off at the airport and that was it. The end of a chapter of my life that lasted 4 years.
And back to Dubai, major moves are an extremely stressful activity. The pressures and stress of packing and figuring what you want to keep and what need to get rid of. Although its a great way to purge all that accumulated material junk with one swift motion. You realize that 80% of the crap you’ve gathered is a total waste of space and money, but alas the accumulation starts right over once the move is over.
Its an interesting experience starting over in a new place (even if that place was a place you’ve lived before). Four years changes a person, you’re prioties, perspectives, and lifestyle are all different. And especially when you’ve grown accustomed to living alone and doing things your own way it can be shock to having to learn how to compromise again when you move back home.
Nonetheless, the advantages are endless. Its so nice to be able to eat 3 wholesome meals a day, and that being your Mom’s amazing home cooked food. The burden of maintaing a household, from cleaning to cooking to worst of all laundry, being lifted. And of course it gives you all this new free time making one realize how much time housekeeping tasks can really take away from your day. So it has left me with a great amount of time to dedicate to personal and professional development, and surprisingly even a little bit of time to give to my endless hobbies.
It was a difficult decision to make, bringing me back to a poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, which my 8th grade English teacher, Mr. Ridley, insisted that we memorize. The poem is about those times when your life comes to a fork in the road, and you have to decide which path to take. The narrotor finally choose “the path less travelled by…” and for him that “made all the difference.” But how do you really know what decision is the right one for you? It was decision between remaining in Canada and pursuing a career there, or returning home and seeking out my opportunities here. From what I’ve been able to figure out, you don’t ever know. You just got to trust your gut.
These moments shape the outcome of your life. The opportunities look good so far. I can’t tell you yet if I took the easy way out or the hard way out by moving home. But so far I’m damn happy with the decision. Lets see what comes next.










