Seeing the Past in Perspective

Today I met a man from my past – a man I dated 25-plus years ago, who is doing what he was born to do, and who is now happily married. I didn't know I was going to see him today.

It was weird. I was trying to figure out what was appropriate behavior. I was bouncing back and forth from the past to the present. He looked the same, he looked different. He acted the same, he acted different. Did his wife know or not know? Would she be upset, not upset? I couldn't get a gauge on what I was feeling. Oh, yeah. I was trying to figure out what I was feeling, while focusing on him, and pretending I wasn't.

That was much too busy. So I slowed my metronome, exhaled a few times, got back home to myself. And you know what I found? I found my Self. Once I was home in myself, I could see him more clearly. I could see that he's not who he was when we dated. Duh! Nor am I. He was essentially who I remembered, but different and unknown. I found that I was genuinely happy for him – he has found his way and his mate. It was easy to give him a hug, meet his wife, and leave feeling complete and satisfied with my own life, and with a sense of pride for both of us and how our lives have changed.

I can see how we served each other then, and how the reverberation of that relationship impacts my life today. I wouldn't be who I am, were it not for the part he played in my life. I suspect the corollary is also true. That suspicion inspires me to want to be a positive reverberation in the lives of others.

In retrospect, it is quite an awesome thought – how Much of a difference each of us makes in the present and the future of others – just by living our lives. So here we are, weaving in and out of each others' destiny, changing ourselves and each other, moving on, reconnecting, more changing, impacting, moving on, and on, and on.