"I Wish We Were Strangers"

Do you ever wish you can start over?

"Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind. "Bruce Lee

   Sometimes, when you reach a peak within a relationship that's doomed to fail you begin to reflect on the situations that have led to this point. Next thing you know you are questioning yourself and reliving the mistakes you made; words you said in anger but now wish to can take back.

   Today, I caught myself thinking “I wish we were strangers” to start this relationship over with a clean slate. Erasing the history between us. It would be so easy, don't you think?  It’s often easy to think things would be different, our relationships would have taken a different direction, but the thing is, it won't change who we are as two separate individuals. Our attitudes, views, fears, dreams. It's still there, even when were strangers. It just hasn't revealed itself yet. Despite wishing we could change something or start over, these relationships in our lives built our foundation. Each mistake is a lesson each new relationship, a new layer. It might be difficult as you are facing problems that threaten your foundation, however, in the long run, it makes you who you are. Maybe some lessons in our life we wish we had never gone through, but it needed to happen.

    Not too long ago I read a story on how scientists started growing trees in a perfectly controlled environment. The scientists soon encountered a problem, for some reason, even though the trees were given everything they could possibly need to flourish in the most perfect ecosystem, they could not stand on their own, and kept toppling over. They soon discovered the cause was in the roots.  

In a natural environment, trees must sustain strong winds, and overtime their roots grow stronger to help the tree stays upright. So, the one thing in the scientists seemingly perfect environment that was missing was the lack of stress that led to weak and fragile roots preventing the trees from having a strong foundation. It’s truly fascinating that we too, much like these trees desire a perfect environment. 

    Have you ever found yourself thinking, “If I can fix this, eliminate that, my life will be perfect?” The truth is, your life is perfect now, you are better than you were yesterday. Even though you are dealing with problems that seem out of control and you feel like the entire core of your foundation is starting to crumble. Without a little stress in your life, you wouldn’t be who you are today. We all have beautiful and tragic stories that have shaped us into who we are today, and I am confident in saying that without them you wouldn’t be you. Even if you don’t believe so yourself, maybe you wish you were different, I guarantee you someone out there loves you for you. So, as you read this, I hope it made some impact on your life, just like it has on mine. 

    In closing, I wish to leave you with this: “Embrace the winds of challenges, because just like the weather forecasts change, so will our situations. It won't thunderstorm forever.”