What If I Missed It? — Choosing to Show Up
On Sunday evening, 19th April 2026, while I was in the second week of my annual leave, I was mostly offline and barely using social media. During those days, I had disconnected from the usual online world, not knowing that an important message was waiting for me. It wasn’t until Monday night, when I finally went back online, that everything changed. As I opened my WhatsApp, I was flooded with messages—but one in particular caught my attention. It was from Ibrahim, the SPA Learning Lab director. I immediately opened the chat and began reading quickly. In the middle of the message, one sentence stood out to me: “We want to make you encouraged and motivated.” I paused, smiled, and felt something shift inside me. Then a question came to my mind almost instantly: Mariam, what if you had missed this invitation? That thought alone was enough. Without hesitation, I confirmed my attendance and apologized for the delay. That night, he wasn’t online, so I couldn’t reach him. The next morning,...