Can you believe that one year has already passed? About one year and one week ago, I ended one chapter of my life and effectively started a new. About one year and one week ago, I hopped on a plane, much like I had in January of 2016, with no real plans for what would happen next but with positive thoughts that regardless of whatever happened, I was making the right decision.

It’s been one year since I’ve left Japan.

I remember how hard it was to make that decision while knowing I would be leaving my finance behind indefinitely. I felt I still had so much left to do and places to explore. However, where I was living and working had run it’s course in my life. My Japan experience in that sense had run it’s course.

It’s so easy to look back and wish to possibly return to that life. Some days I look at pictures of Tokyo or Saitama and I miss it. I was there for a fair amount of time so it’s only natural that I would miss something about Japan. But the fact of the matter remains that despite my best efforts, I was unhappy and unhealthy.

As usual, trusting in myself and my decisions has started to pay off. Since moving home, I haven’t been sick constantly like I was in Japan, I’ve lost (almost) 20 pounds, I’m working in a field that I’m highly interested in, and I haven’t felt as depressed as I did before I moved. Despite everything going on in the world right now, I made the right decision for me at that time and it has paid off.

I feel like sometimes we know when something just isn’t working anymore, but we stubbornly try to persist anyway. It’s okay to give yourself permission to drop something that isn’t serving you anymore. Sometimes, you also just have to trust in yourself. I struggle with both, but when I do follow through it always works out in my favor.

I’m not sure if my stint here will be permanent, but I’m enjoying the place where I am for now. I have some goals I want to accomplish before I think about moving again. But, I think after being away for one year, I would mind revisiting Japan, for maybe a year, if the conditions were right.

But I guess we’ll see when the time comes.