By Azim

22. this year of life was THE most beautiful of all. without all the failures, i wouldn't have the wins i have now. funnily enough (i'm in China rn), i grew like a bamboo tree. Alhamdulillah. some say i'm behind for my age. because not settled, not studying. others say i'm ahead because of the things i'm doing. neither matters tho. writing this, i'm reminded of the Hobbit. his path to the Mountain with the Dragon was never a straight line. it had many... many turns. this is my 4th birthday being abroad. the first one i spent without my family, i was 8. everyone was focused on my younger brother Abu's extremely difficult heart surgery. nothing fancy happened on that day. just my grandparents and my uncle, who bought me a 3D Eiffel Tower puzzle. something switched in me that day. i wrote a post about how that moment literally shaped who i am. i never posted it tho. for the next year, i've decided to make no plans. last friday i had a very long talk with Abdulaziz aka, and the biggest insight was this: don't over-plan... because He is the greatest of planners and don't put barriers. indeed. i'm keeping the direction. but just not making the road too specific. here is to 22.