A Pursuit Within

Sana Shoaib

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Daastan Publishing 2025

First Published in Pakistan by Daastan PVT LTD

House # A-41, Madni Street, Lala Rukh, Wah Cantt, Punjab 47040

www.daastan.com

www.meraqissa.com

Text copyrights © Sana Shoaib

Book Design Copyright © Anum Ameer

Edited by: Syed Ommer Amer

The moral rights of the writer, illustrator, and editor have been asserted.

All rights reserved

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN 978-627-526-009-7

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DEDICATION

For the One who sees every tear,
hears every whisper,
and never tires of my return.
To the One who held me
even when I didn't know I was being held.

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PREFACE

This book is a quiet companion for anyone walking through confusion, healing, or spiritual seeking.

It is divided into four parts; Stumble, Being by Yourself, Correction, and Connection. It reflects on what it means to fall apart, to sit in stillness, to turn inward, and to rise again with intention and grace.

These pages are shaped by faith, emotion, and honest reflection. You’ll find questions more than answers, and reminders rather than instructions. You’ll read about solitude, regret, comparison, resilience, divine connection, and emotional clarity, not as theories, but as lived experience.

This book is not meant to be read in a rush. Let each section sit with you. Return to what resonates. Skip what doesn’t. And if something brings even a moment of calm or clarity to your heart, I’ll consider that a gift.

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Sana Shoaib
July 2025

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Table of Contents

Stumble. 1

Being by yourself 17

Correction.. 29

Connection.. 42

Stumble

When do things start to go wrong? Is it because of youth, or strength, or power? Or is it the carefree attitude that often comes with those things?

Maybe.

Trouble begins when these powerful energies are left without direction. When we get carried away by the glitter and noise around us, it becomes easy to lose sight of where we are headed and what truly matters.

Why do we get hurt? Often, it is because we invest deeply in people, in relationships, in moments. We put in effort, sometimes without even realizing it, and somewhere along the way, we begin to expect the same in return.

That effort can take many forms. We try to understand others, to accommodate their likes and dislikes. We hold back from expressing ourselves, afraid of imposing, even when we are justified in doing so.

The world expects us to be hard-hearted, because sensitive people with sensitive feelings are not really considered acceptable.

Over time, these sensitive individuals, often referred to as “emotional,” tend to develop a certain rigid behaviour, which, interestingly, helps them. How? They begin to follow a pattern where they simply avoid thinking about anything that might hurt them.

A good trick, isn’t it?
Quite useful.

But there is always a strong possibility that this self-created pattern will break, and when it does, the hurt returns.

No problem.
It is perfectly okay.
You are not a robot, after all.

A well-known quote, often attributed to Theodore Roosevelt “Comparison is the thief of joy”, and yet we see it almost everywhere: between siblings, between friends, between cousins, between colleagues, between daughters-in-law, between sons-in-law, and a lot more.