and the things that will need to be done when I get back. I’m thinking about the route my life will take. I’m thinking about my family. I’m thinking about my friends. I’m thinking about the person I need to be when I step off the plane.

When I stepped off the plane and landed in Saudi Arabia I made a few promises to myself and, alhamdulilah, I kept them.

I have promises in my mind right now that I want to make to myself when I walk in to the Heathrow terminal on that cold Thursday morning on March first. I want to promise myself that I’m going to be a certain version of myself, the best version of myself, from that day on.

I’ll have an idea what path it is that I’ll be walking when I step off that plane this time tomorrow. I’ll have an idea of what the future holds in store for me.

I’m regaining my optimism. I’m regaining my hope. I feel like my life has direction for the first time in month - maybe the first time ever.

It’s liberating.

It’s ironic that starting to walk a path that will bind me to it for the rest of my life is incredibly liberating.