It was the same for me. Every single day, morning to night endlessly looping in the back of my head.

But one day it simply stopped. I’d boarded a plane and moved to another country, and the moment I touched down, I realized this is where I was meant to be. Some people really are just born into an environment or culture that isn’t meant for them, and sometimes you really can just run away from a problem.

Sometimes these thoughts do come back, but they’re brought about by extreme stress and last just hours. Maybe at most once or twice a year. Far, far better than it being the first and last thing I thought every single day for most of my life. Almost a decade since that day and it’s been almost nothing but peace inside my mind.