Sometimes we walk on roads that we shouldn’t. Roads that have dead ends. Roads that end at closed doors and blind streets. Paths that don’t lead to destinations.
Perhaps those paths were never meant to be ours. They belong to someone else’s story — yet we go astray on them anyway. Because somewhere, somehow, those paths feel familiar.
So what if we find ourselves walking on such roads? What should we do? We should start our journey backward as soon as possible. The moment the realization of a dead end hits us, we should get ourselves ready to return — right at that very moment. Because the farther we go, the harder returning becomes, and the deeper the exhaustion grows. Not only that, but we also grow more and more distant from the right roads — the ones that were always meant to be ours.
And what should we do if we find a closed door, or someone shuts one in our face? I believe we shouldn’t make a habit of knocking on closed doors. We should begin our journey back while holding onto our self-respect and integrity. If a door closes on us, we must close it too — from our side — and lock it. And not only that, we must also bury the version of ourselves that chose to walk down that wrong road in the first place.
Walking on wrong roads is not wrong in itself. It teaches us how to choose the right ones. That experience — however painful — tells us which paths to take and which to leave. Which road deserves our running and which one only deserves a passing glance. How to walk, and where to walk. Which road leads to a destination and which one only leads to a dead end.
I pray that Allah Kareem guides us to the right paths and protects us from walking on roads that tire our heart, soul, and mind. Ameen.