You Should Dare to Hold Tight to the Nevers
Occasionally, I attempt to stalk you. I shuffle through social media looking for any hint of how you are or what you’re doing.
Our friendship meant so much to me. Most of my memories involve you in some way – the good, the bad, the ugly, and definitely the unmentionable.
Today was one of those days. I had been shuffling through images of friends that I knew then and only see now on social media platforms. We live in separate worlds, connected only by the fragile thread of the internet.
The reminiscing got me thinking about you . . .again.
I’ve searched in the past with no luck. The first few attempts left me equally disappointed.
One more try.
And there you were, your smile lit up my heart and crushed it at the same time. It has been decades since I encountered that smile in any form and I miss it. I miss you.
I wish there could be some way to let you know.
Despite the power of technology, it can’t fix what’s broken here, especially since I don’t know how it broke in the first place. All I can do is enjoy your smile and keep going.
I’ve learned from the empty space that you left. Never has to be my standing place.
The Nevers You Should Embrace
- Never expect others to explain their actions. People are going to do what people are going to do. It’s their choice.
- Never try to talk others out of taking their actions. It’s not possible to know all the thoughts, emotions, and considerations that were invested in the choices. Even if you do understand, it’s still their choice.
- Never change to make others day. You do want to continue to learn and grow, and that will mean change. But your change has to be for your journey and not an attempt to control or cajole others.
- Never give the power of your happiness to another. We are meant to take this journey with others. It is all about relationships, after all. But joy and happiness starts in the heart and grows up in the mind – not in the people or circumstances around you.
- Never allow the things of this world to break your focus on the more of the Master. When you put God first, you will find your way through all the rest.
People will come and go – and you will come and go out of the lives of people. Stand strong in your nevers, and you will find you can get through even the roughest moments of abandonment.
As for you, you will always be in my heart, in my prayers, and a dynamic force of my memories.
Be blessed,
