The Sun Still Sets In The West: 1 year

My office in Dammam

365 days ago, I got on an airplane.

Guess you might say I took a little trip-and "what a long strange trip its been".

Well folks, it's here. My one year anniversary. 1 down and who knows how many to go. 1 more 2 more, 10 more? They say if you can do 2, you can do 10. Some people don't make their 90 days. Some people go screaming for the exits on week 2, and even more complete that first contract year and boogie on home, a little better off, a little more worldly. Then there are the others, the ones who for whatever reason, stay. It's way too early to tell if I'm one of those yet, but as of today I'm a quarter of the way through the second academic year and the first calendar year has been marked off. Oh and I'm the only American still here with this company. I understand that to some extent. 2 of the guys had good reasons for staying away or going home. Long story short...I'm the last of the American's. Not quite as impressive as being the last of the Mohicans maybe, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was at least a little impressed with myself. Despite that though I can't tell you much about it. I've told you plenty about it before, but for some reason I can't expand tonight. Truth be told, I haven't been able to expand on it for a week now. I've been trying to write this since the 10th, now its the 13th. Hell the only reason I'm typing is because I'm tired of staring at the screen and doing nothing. I think I know the reason, can't really be sure just yet, but I think it has to do with contentment. Happiness, satisfaction and reflective writing don't seem to go hand in hand for me. Except for school assignments, I didn't write for nearly 10 years. I always blamed it on life, being busy, being a father and a husband, working all the damn time...I think it was something closer to contentment. The scary thing is...its back. So instead of writing some deep, slightly cheesy, hipster band-esque monologue about how much I've survived, suffered, succeeded and what I've learned. I'll just post a thought and a few pics. Enjoy.

At times in life we feel lost, we feel as though our whole world is collapsing around and on top of us. We can never imagine again feeling the sun on our face and the spring in our carefree step. The advice of friends and those around us falls on deaf ears because they just can't understand how lost we feel.

Tonight I saw a young boy standing in a grocery store crying, screaming really, balling uncontrollably. He thought he'd lost his mother. His world was destroyed, his life over. he was more lost than he ever had been before and thought surely, this must be the end. Of course his mother was simply in the next isle. Right where she'd been when he wandered off. She came to him, his cries ceased immediately, his eyes dried and his face showed the happiness that can only come from feeling that safe, and that loved.

Every time we feel lost, every time our world is crumbling down upon us, every time we think there's no hope...our salvation probably lies right around the corner, just like it does for the lost child. We just can't see it. We're somewhere we've never been before and were scared that it'll always be that way.

It won't.