I would like you to listen to this song as you read this post:
My first experience of force majeure happened in Calgary when the price of oil went below zero. I had worked tirelessly and relentlessly to become an engineer. It meant everything to me. I imagined that this was my future. I was going to work as an engineer for at least 5 years then advance to a management position and work my way up in the oil and gas industry. Then I got hit hard with a lay off from my then full time engineering position, my first after grad position. I was so traumatized from that experience. The layoff felt like a rejection of everything I worked so hard for.
So I took the hit and left the company. I spent the next few months after that mostly at home crying. The dream I worked so hard to build was collapsing before my eyes. I had the perfect apartment and the perfect boyfriend and the perfect job and the perfect car but none of these seemed perfect in that moment. I would sit on my balcony and stare for hours into nothingness or lay on my handwoven plush Moroccan wool rug and ask the universe for a sign. I guess that was a defining moment in my life. Everything seemed so dark. To get myself out of the hole, I enrolled into a bootcamp gym just down the hill from my apartment and started going religiously. I remember the initial chat I had with the trainer who pointed out "Maybe this is a blessing in disguise". It was indeed.
This single event was the catalyst that drove me to change my entire life. I lost my obsession with the once esteemed oil and gas industry and thought there must be a bigger world out there for me. I also wasn't happy in my relationship even though we were on the brink of getting engaged. People told me I was crazy, illogical, and others would dream to have the life I built but I wasn't about to listen to anyone but myself. I was tied to these responsibilities but I had one friend tell me "There's always a way out". Despite the intense fear of jumping into the unknown, I jumped. Within one year, I ended a 5 year relationship, studied for the GMAT, and moved to a city on the other side of the country completely alone. I had my heart set on a new goal. I was going to learn French, study at a very prestigious French business school and live in Paris. So I went.
I passed the year in Montreal where I studied full time French then I moved to Paris to pursue my MBA after which, I secured a good internship at the bank. During the MBA, I felt exhilirated by the opportunities and the possibilities of what I could become in Paris. I joined student politics and discovered a new aspect of my personality. I never ever thought I would like politics. I realized that I never cared for the power or fame, but I saw it as a platform of privilege where I can implement change. I imagined and dreamed how my life in Paris could pan out but once I started working, I was so disheartened by my experience at the bank. Seriously, this is it? I switched continents, countries, industries, and I was back at this corporate rat race? I didn't feel happy but I did my best, day in and day out. I didn't have a clear picture of what was in front of me. At the end of my internship, my manager assured me that they liked me but in the present moment, there was no available position for me and asked me to check back within a few months. It was Christmas time so I went back to Calgary for a break.
While I was in Paris, I was contemplating this idea of "Journalism" and was wondering why it was playing on my mind so much. So while in Calgary, I did some research and was beyond surprised to find that there was a short Broadcast Journalism course offered in New York, starting within a few days. So I jumped at the opportunity. I remember I was too afraid to print my papers at home in case my family sees it and criticizes me so I asked my friend to print them at his coffee shop. He had a laugh at my choice of new adventure and told me "Sura fam, get these adventures out of your system" so off I went to New York.
My course was intense and exciting. Full time, weekdays and weekends. I was unsure about going back to Paris. I finally felt understood and appreciated in New York. A city full of direct go getters all there to pursue some dream. A city big enough for my passions. I felt like I had finally met my match. For the first time, I wasn't trying to fit into a world that didn't understand me. I had found a city that seemed designed for people who carried too many ideas inside them and everyone was in a hurry to get somewhere. My soldier style of walking didn't seem weird at all. My loud demanding opinionated nature didn't seem weird anymore. In fact, it was appreciated. But another force majeure was about to hit me. Within the last few days of my course ending, a new virus called Corona broke out. It was everywhere on the news. At first, we felt safe that it was only in China and nowhere near us but it became quickly clear that this was an international emergency and I was forced to shift gears. So I hopped on a bus and went to Montreal.
I spent the year of corona virus in Montreal and it was one of the most beautiful years of my life. It was a year of healing, connecting with old friends, and chilling. I watched the situation closely in Paris and in New York and both seemed iffy. France had a lot of bureaucratic procedures and I wasn't sure what my plan for New York would be yet. I thought deeply of a course of action and decided to set my eyes on Dubai. I had a dream to pursue a gold jewellery business and where else better than Dubai for gold? So off I went to Dubai.
I came to Dubai, I got a job, I got an apartment and a cat. Then I was hit with another force majeure, I got fired from my job. I was traumatized by the injustice of it all. I didn't do anything wrong, why did I get fired? Why does this keep happening to me? Is there no justice in the world? I spent months laying in bed unable to really think or focus on what I should do next. The familiar wound reopened. I questioned whether I was cursed or whether the world simply rewarded those who played politics better than those who tried to do the right thing. But this time, instead of collapsing completely, I started rebuilding. I studied fashion design. I returned to my body through exercise. Slowly, I began understanding that losing a job did not mean losing myself.
Looking back, I began to realize that I had experienced force majeure several times—not always as a legal or economic event, but as a moment when circumstances outside my control forced me to reconsider the life I thought I was building. Having said that, it doesn't mean that our destiny is out of our control because our choices are still the determining factor in how our life pans out.
I went back to Calgary after that to see the city with completely new eyes. The city was completely different this time around. The city had changed, my old friends were no longer there, and I felt alone and aimless. It didn't feel like home anymore. I got the opportunity to go to Iraq so I thought let me try this out and after having spent a year there, I decided it was not a worthwhile experience to stick around. It was nice to spend time with my family and see Iraq after having left it 27 years prior but somehow, I didn't feel it was the right place for me. Perhaps it was the resentment I felt towards my external family for never checking on me the entire time I was alone abroad, or perhaps it was my desire to build my own life and not settle for working for my father's company. Or perhaps I realized that after 27 years away, I no longer belonged entirely to Iraq, nor entirely to Canada. I had become something in between. I felt that life had bigger plans for me.
So I packed my bags and came to Dubai again. I was super excited and went full force with my new job but then another force majeure hit me. The war had started and it froze opportunities, created uncertainty, and changed the economic climate in the city. People were scared and panicked. It was the first time that Dubai experienced a catastrophe on the world stage. The opportunities I was trying to pursue all came to a halt due to the economic circumstances affected by the war and I found myself all alone in Dubai with no money to even eat food.
And this time, I decided to do something different. Let's see where this takes me. Maybe I am not meant to do one thing or another but many different things, in line with my multi-passionate nature.
Looking back, I can now connect the dots. All these mishaps and gear shifts and quick decisions all happened for a reason. They were all guiding me towards my path. There were moments where I felt disheartened, discouraged, scared, and filled with doubt. I didn't know what kept me going but I had faith in something. I was never a religious person but I trusted that somehow it will all make sense in the future.
I also learned something more painful: how much leadership matters. I encountered people who chose convenience over courage, self-interest over responsibility, and silence over integrity. These experiences affected my ability to trust—not because everyone was the same, but because I had witnessed the damage caused when people with power lacked character.
And most importantly, I learned something important about myself. Throughout my journey, I learned to make decisions with a clear head, even when my heart was heavy. I'm proud of every choice I ever made. Even the difficult choice to leave The Man with the Huge Chest and Brown Hair behind. It was the most difficult choice I ever made but it was the right choice.
Force majeure was never about economics, but adaptability. The ability to quickly judge and assess a situation and make good choices. A skill that's a vital part of life because life never stops being unpredictable. The lesson is that we are never defined by what happens to us, but by how quickly we can rebuild after the collapse. Every disruption I once considered a punishment eventually became an invitation. Life kept closing doors I was determined to enter because perhaps I was meant to build my own.
