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.