The Point of No Return
Marina was rushing, as usual. The city was draped in rainy November fog, and the chilly air was thick with dampness. Her routine demanded agility and speed—she was always juggling: studies, work, volunteer projects. It felt like the entire world wanted something from her, and she constantly tried to keep up. But that day was different. She felt a growing unease, as though she was racing past everything that mattered.

Her day passed in a blur—assignments, calls, quick check-ins with friends, meetings. Finally, as she was reaching her doorstep that evening, her phone rang unexpectedly. It was her younger brother, whom she hadn’t seen in nearly two months. He sounded strained, barely managing to hold his voice steady. He said he needed someone to talk to, that he was struggling with his studies, that he was feeling lost.

Marina remembered how close they had been as children, how often he had looked up to her. But since she’d moved away to study in another city, they rarely saw each other, and their conversations had become shallow and brief, like everything else in her busy life. And right then, she had so much to do: a project, work reports, another all-nighter ahead. She was simply too tired to spare the time for a long conversation. “You’ll get through it,” she told him, yawning and already distracted by other pressing tasks.

The next morning, her parents called with shattering news: her brother was gone.

In the first hours, she was numb, unable to believe what had happened. The memory of their last conversation came flooding back—his quiet voice, how he had asked for just a moment of her time. And her response. Marina realized her words, “You’ll get through it,” had sounded cold, indifferent. She wondered if, perhaps, if she’d just talked to him a little longer, if she’d reassured him that he wasn’t alone, she could have helped.

That day became Marina’s point of no return. She couldn’t live the way she had before. She understood that a single minute of attention, a simple, kind word can have a tremendous impact on another person’s life. It’s so easy to forget this when we’re busy, wrapped up in our own goals and plans. But sometimes, the most important thing we can do is pause, listen, feel someone else’s pain, and simply be there, no matter how busy we are.

Since then, Marina’s life changed. She spent more time with the people she loved, really listening and being present. She realized that one small moment could make a life-changing difference for someone. We all need to remember that we can be a crucial support for someone else—that every conversation, every word matters.