I wanted to run away. I wanted to run away from people, from the pressure of choosing a partner, and from the idea of finding someone who’s supposed to be right for me. I wanted to run away from the dilemma I have every day with myself about what career I should choose or what I should study or whether I should be an entrepreneur or a freelancer or work a corporate job from 9 to 5. I wanted to run away from my past and from thinking of my future.

I wanted to run away from the expectations, the admiration, and the idea of disappointing others. It was all too much for me. I wanted to run away from the responsibilities, the arguments, and the political debates. I wanted to run away from the gossip, the everyday chaos, the loud voices, the car horns, and all the noise.

I wanted to run away from the horrifying news I hear every day. I wanted to run away from hearing about the wars, global warming, famine, and seeing people struggling every day.

I wanted to run away from people telling me their feelings, only to realize that I can’t reciprocate it. I wanted to run away from thinking about the one that got away. I wanted to run away from all the stress, all the yelling, and all the confrontations.

I wanted to run away from the taxes, the bills, the thoughts of how to make money, and from thinking of a retirement plan. I wanted to run away from the ringing voice of every notification, every message, and every call.

I wanted to run away from answering one more email and from texting one more person. I wanted to run away from hearing heartbreaking stories. I wanted to run away from the everyday fast-paced life. I wanted to run away from the lights, the gases, and the skyscrapers. I wanted to run away from the streets’ catcalling, smirks, looks, and whistling.

I wanted to run away from the trends, the competitions, the rivalry, and from the pursuit of proving something. I wanted to run away from the idea of hustling and grinding all the time.

I wanted to run away from it all. And I realized that when you feel like you need to run away from it all, then this is exactly what you should do. You shouldn’t have waited till you got sick of everything to decide to run away, but you should’ve run away earlier.

Sometimes everything feels too much, and everything is overwhelming; even the simplest everyday act seems like a very heavy thing to do because you’ve had enough and you need to get away.

So this is what I learned throughout my life: There’s no problem with wanting to run away, and when you feel so, do it. Just pack your bag and leave and run away till you feel like you can come back again and till you feel like you’re you again. It’s okay to do so. I think it’s something that we need to normalize more into our lives to just leave for some time when things get too unbearable for us and just take that time away from everything and then come back when we feel like we can face the world again.