Again With The Connections

I have always been intrigued by the connections between people, and though I have had many of my own connections in my life), I love how the ‘paths’ of people criss-cross, come back to haunt us and reconnect us on amazing levels that we can’t ever really understand. It allows us to subtly work through the past, approaching the future with anticipation and excitement instead of dread.

I recently had dinner with a group of women I had the honor to work with at a youth care facility. We worked as an incredibly efficient team, and for years I had been trying to put my finger on exactly why we were capable of all of the things we accomplished. We were considered an elite group - self proclaimed! Nothing could deter us, but I was always curious as to how we managed to pull it all off.

These days, I have ‘let it go’ and just enjoy the idea that I have people in my life that I feel like I could tell absolutely anything. Trust is a huge deal to me (and it should be) – and I feel comfortable amongst these ladies. They teach me so much and they probably don’t even know it. OK, they probably do – they are intellectual, life embracing gals and I adore them!

There are others in my life who I rarely see, but one visit and we find the same wavelength instantly – like nothing ever changed, yet now we have so much more to talk about and share because change happens constantly even if we don’t see it.

I also have new folks introducing themselves into my life and I have to admit, I love learning other women’s stories. They may not be like my own, but there are elements of emotion we can all connect with. Did I already mention that I learn so much from these women?

I used to be the type of person who had to be right. I was always right – even when I was wrong. My bull-headedness has gotten me into more trouble than anything else I ever did in my life. It lead me…..well, it lead me nowhere good until I started using it for good instead of evil.

I stayed standing still on my ‘path’ because I refused to budge. I was pissed off for so many reasons – all embraced and discarded now, but back then my life felt chaotic and without direction. Why? Well, because it was of course! That’s a no brainer to me these days, but back then you could not have told me what was good for me. I wasn’t listening.

The connections I have made in my life have ‘taught’ me who I can be (anyone I choose) and it was all accomplished without a lecture or negativity. Perhaps the teachers don’t even realize the far reaching effects of what they offer to others.

I learned from these people because they were positive folks who respected me, stuck with me through my life and –respected me for who I was,  even though I may not have known who that was at the time.

Every person we encounter teaches us something, but catching the lessons, either consciously or not is key.

I didn’t catch the lessons until years later - in fact, I’m still catching them!