One Year Later

It’s a year today since I arrived in Korea to begin teaching English and it seems as if every cliché saying, anecdote and proverb about time feels excruciatingly true.

Time markers like today, birthdays, holidays and anniversaries often bring up mixed feelings for me. Feelings of joy, sadness, regret, happiness, fear and confidence might strike as I reflect on time passed.

In these times of reflection, I am forced to feel vulnerable. When I sit and think about all that has transgressed in a year of my life I am forced to re-live not only the bright successes and joys, but also the painful moments that I would sometimes rather forget; heartbreaks, dramas, and disappointments. As hard as it can be to face these moments again, I am often pleasantly surprised at how much less troubling all these past experiences seem in the present.

The magic of time has a way of finding a way to use the most awful of moments to shed a light on the truth that we are seeking, whatever that may be. Time has a way of healing our hearts, extinguishing drama, and finding opportunities in disappointment. Time surprises us with a stronger, more capable, wiser version of ourselves whom we did not know a year, a month, or even a week ago.

Time can give us the gifts to discover ourselves through our worst moments, and can teach us to grow into ourselves in the most beautiful of ways: by simply living. It may be in reflection our darkest days, that we find our light. We find our way to the person we aspire to be, our authentic and most incredible of selves.

So, be gracious with your time. Let it wash over you and teach you its lessons. Accept the gifts time gives, and grant it the only thing it ever asks of you: to never let it be wasted.

You can read more from Sasha Rahemtulla on her blog.