Messengers

There are times when it seems old friends come out of the woodwork. Your paths cross for some mysterious, karmic reason, and it takes you back in time. Sometimes, it’s not an actual encounter at all–a glimpse of old photograph or a simple turn of phrase, and we become virtual time travelers.

Instagram is full of the ubiquitous #TBT. (Does anyone even use hashtags anymore?) Facebook, too, incites rumination with its Year in Review and On This Date functionality.

Whatever the trigger, rearview reflections are often useful in considering just how far we’ve come. Or maybe how much farther we’d like to go.

At the beginning of 2015, I wrote three goals on my mirror. Run a marathon. Write a book. Be compassionate. To date, I have not accomplished the first two. In truth, I run less and write more now than I did at the outset of the year.

My third goal, be compassionate, has taken root. Although a quantitative measure is impractical, maintaining mindfulness of another’s experience has become a more integrated component of my thought process. For that, I am grateful.

Back to old friends, I have had conversations with three of late. One has taken a wholly different path since we were close and she seems the better for it. Another has remained true to his original vision and is struggling to reconcile reality with the picture in his head. The third continues to live his truth adjusting as he goes for the obstacles life has thrown in his path.

Each of their stories holds a lesson.

There is a permanence and an impermanence to the decisions we make. It is how we deal with the consequences of our choices, navigate our circumstances, and continue to move forward that makes a life of our days.

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