Could you tell me a time you reflected?

A couple of years ago I embarked on something that for me was both terrifying and exciting. Leaving the comfort of my university where I had all my friends and my life to going across the pond to Canada to study for 6 months.

It was something that I embraced, and even though at times I missed home, I met some of the most amazing people. One of these people was someone I became very dear and close with and before I knew it we were dating and I was heading back home for my final year of university.

One of my biggest regrets to this day was spending that year in a relationship, I made myself distant from a lot of people; my family, my friends from school, and even the friends at uni who I lived with. I refused to go to the pub when I instead sat in and FaceTimed someone who to be fair meant a lot to me at the time. It was small things like this which were building a barrier between me and other people that were important to me.

We saw each other maybe twice that year being that she was in Canada and I was in the UK so distance was obviously a factor. When finally I finished my final year of uni I decided that I had to try move to Canada and start a life there against a lot of people’s wishes, including my family which was particularly difficult to take. There was a lot of advice I got from my friends and family that said this wasn’t a good idea and I didn’t have any support from any of them. I have to admit this was really tough to take but for me it was the right decision.

While I was out there I fortunately had the most amazing experience after picking up a job which I then learnt new skills from and living with one of my best mates who I am still in contact with every day.

Ultimately the relationship didn’t go the right way but for periods over that year at university I felt that I was letting down a lot of people and I didn’t know what I was doing wrong? But what I was doing wrong was so obvious?

I now make sure that my friends and family are the most important things in my life and I have made more of an effort to include them. Maybe it was love? Who knows, and till this day that word scares me but I have learnt a lot and this is the most important thing.