Monday, February 28, 2011

Backtracking

Today I have been thinking a lot about my life; where I am and how I got here. I realized that I can look back and pinpoint specific decisions, some mine and some not, that lead me to exactly where I am.

I applied to three different colleges. I got into two. My mom called and reserved a dorm for me at Rick's college before I had even decided where to go because the dorms filled up quickly. That one thoughtful action alone completely shifted the course of my life. I could have ended up in Virginia and who knows where else from there.

So off to Rick's I went. My first day there Heather came over to my apartment and introduced herself. We became friends and then I became friends with Beth, her roommate. That next semester I was scheduled to stay in the same dorm but Heather and Beth were moving to another dorm. I applied so I could be roommates with them and got in.

Because I moved to that specific dorm I decided I liked it there and though I switched apartments I stayed in the same dorm complex and met some really amazing roommates. I also met "Herbert."

"Herbert" moved to Greenbrier, a complex that housed guys and girls. I moved there a semester later in hopes of wooing my friend. That didn't happen but I did eventually meet my husband who lived with an old roommate of "Herbert's" whom I had become friends with in the course of my fruitless pursuit.

When I look back on it, a million small choices could have completely changed the course of my life. What if Heather hadn't said hello? What if I hadn't gotten into the dorms that year? What if I hadn't tried to date "John?" I could have ended up in a million different places.

It makes me wonder if I have ever done something seemingly small that changed the course of someone's life, that set them on a new path. Hopefully it was a good path that I directed them to.

I really believe that people have a purpose in our lives. We may not always know what they are but if we look back sometimes we can find a small trail, almost invisible, that connects everyone in a funny little line through life.

1 comment:

  1. Isn't it amazing to think about all those little things ? I often stop to think about all that and just realize even when we didn't like what life was doing to us at that moment it brought us to where we are now. When you consider all the little things that had to happen to put you where you are now? Its amazing to think about.....and knowing that nothing can stop God's plan.
    Sara T.

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