Skip to main content

The Same Spot

During lunch today, my friend and I were discussing the current economic and social issues facing Europe right now. It was a rather in-depth conversation for two Americans, but we're both very interested in different cultures. She even lived in Spain for a year in college and started her teaching career there. (She is also my biggest supporter for the idea of moving abroad for a few years.)

I've listened to many of her stories and been completely enthralled by her adventures through Spain and Mexico. I'll be honest, I'm even a bit jealous. She lived the kind of life I wish I had lived (and deliberately gave up for what I thought would be marriage and a family). I certainly didn't choose a path in life that would have allowed for that ten years ago. This rumbled through my head as she told me today that she doesn't regret any of those adventures and that they make her more appreciative of her time now.

"Naples has nothing more exciting to offer me than where I've already been. I like that."

My response was that I wish I had studied culture and language in college (instead of psychology). She looked at me and smiled.

"I don't know. We both ended up in the same spot."

There's a bit of a comfort there in that statement. In the end, I suppose, we all end up in the same spot. This truth is nothing new, I know, but sometimes we need a little reminder that God knows how to get us where we need to be (often in spite of ourselves).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Carnival

It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon here in southwest Florida, although still a bit too warm for my November tastes. I'm learning to enjoy my weekends with as much unstructured and unscheduled time as possible. Last Saturday was a delightful unstructured day. A new friend of mine (the one from the Everglades excursion) and I went to a local carnival. Now, here's the thing...I LOVE carnivals. The food. The people. The rides. The lights. I can easily spend an entire day wandering through the crowds. He's no carnival slouch. The first thing we did was walk through the entire place, scoping out the rides. Then the fun began. We rode almost every ride there (except for the kiddie attractions and the broken Tornado). The Wild Claw. The Scrambler. The Orbiter. The Space Oddysey. The Swings. The Pharaoh's Fury. The Ferris Wheel. The Giant Slide. The Haunted House. The Avalanche. It was all good. How can you top a ride that uses centrifugal force to plaster your body against...
2 comments
Read more

Busy Days Ahead

It's been a busy week for me. I left my house at 4:30 Monday morning for my drive down south and pulled back in my driveway at 1:20 this morning. The days have been long, too, between working at the new school from 7:30 until 3:00 or 4:00 and then working at the new place until 9:00 or 10:00 each night. I now have callouses on my fingers and not one intact finger nail. I think I've also developed a new twitch somewhere on my face. One afternoon this week, I stood in the middle of our new living room and took in the sight of missing drywall, a growing hole in the floor and soaked up my husband's predictions that we still won't be ready to paint by the weekend. All I wanted to do was cry. All I felt was nothingness. Numbness. Anyone who has ever reached the point of numbness knows that it's scarier than feeling like you're falling apart. It's one step beyond feeling like you're falling apart. I couldn't help but wonder just what we had gotten ourselves...
5 comments
Read more

Stranger Obligations

I had to make a few difficult decisions this week. At least, they were difficult for me. I wish I could be the kind of person who completely makes decisions based on his/her own needs and wants and boldly moves through life with unabashed freedom from how our choices affect others. But I'm not built like that. I had placed an ad for my former stray. I felt like it was time to find her a more permanent home because so much in my life right now is uncertain. One person answered the ad, but she did not seem like a good fit, and I gave up further thought. This week I received another response. As long as this person is telling the truth, it's an ideal situation for the dog. Yet, I had a strange feeling and could not sort out whether or not it was my intuition kicking in or that fact that I actually like the dog and don't want to see her go. In the end, I decided that it was in my own (and my Winnipeg's) best interest for her to stay with us through the summer. (I seri...
5 comments
Read more