As a doctor, I was always taught to look beyond myself — to heal, to diagnose, to treat others before me. But somewhere along that journey, I forgot YOU. Not just the “you” sitting in front of me as a patient, but YOU — the deeper essence within. The part that dreams, feels, and wants to live a little beyond duty. It took years, words, and travel to find that YOU again.

When I hung up my stethoscope and picked up my pen, people asked, “Why?” My answer was simple: because YOU can’t pour from an empty cup. Medicine gave me purpose, but writing gave me peace. I realized how much of life I had missed — the sunsets I didn’t watch, the stories I didn’t tell, and the moments I didn’t feel because I was too busy saving everyone else’s you.

Travel became my therapy. Each journey whispered a truth — that healing doesn’t always happen in hospitals. Sometimes, it happens when YOU lose yourself in a mountain mist, when YOU sip coffee in a small Polish café, or when YOU write your heart out beside a quiet sea. I learned that YOU are not defined by your profession, your success, or your failures. YOU are defined by how deeply you live, love, and create.

As a doctor, I was surrounded by lives on the edge — people fighting for every breath. It taught me the fragility of time. But as a writer, I discovered the beauty of slowing it down. The words I now write are not medical prescriptions, but emotional ones — for YOU, for me, for everyone who’s forgotten their inner spark.

If YOU are reading this and feeling stuck in a role that no longer excites you, know this: YOU have permission to evolve. YOU have permission to rewrite your story. The world may define you by what you do, but only YOU can define why you do it.

Through my travels, from bustling streets of Warsaw to the serene cliffs of Santorini, I’ve realized that stories are everywhere — in people, in places, in pauses. Every adventure is a reminder that YOU don’t need to have everything figured out. Sometimes, YOU just need to take that first step, even if it’s away from everything familiar.

So here I am — a doctor turned writer and traveller, learning, unlearning, and discovering life one story at a time. And I hope that somewhere in these words, YOU find a little bit of yourself too. Because at the end of the day, life is not about who you heal, where you go, or what you achieve — it’s about how fully YOU .

This post was created for the Blogaberry Creative November Challenge with theme word You.