“Coming back is the thing that enables you to see how all the dots in your life are connected, how one decision leads you to another, how one twist of fate, good or bad, brings you to a door that later takes you to another door, which aided by several detours–long hallways and unforeseen stairwells–eventually puts you in the place you are now.” – Ann Patchett
In life there are no do-overs.
Each day we must live with the consequences of our decisions – good or bad – and finds ways to accept that they’ve led us to where we are today.
And while there are no do-overs in life, you can go back – home that is.
Going Home…
I spent the last week doing just that. I used to fly from my home in New Jersey to visit relatives in Colorado. Only this time I was flying from my home in Colorado to visit friends and family in New Jersey.
Admittedly it was both therapeutic and emotional at times. Two years had passed since I last found myself in the company of family and friends I’ve missed dearly. And while I assumed my return would only cause me to miss people more, instead the result was far more surprising.
My journey home, through all the “dots” in my life, enabled me to see something I hadn’t before. Not time nor distance was enough to erase the meaningful relationships still alive and well some 1,800 miles away.
The realization uplifted my spirit and reminded me that there are still so many individuals who care about me, even though their faces are no longer seen with regularity throughout the year. So many people I’ve been fortunate enough to share in life’s journey – without conditions or pretense, but purity and transparency.
It’s not until you make such a realization that you realize how rare such a gift truly is in life.
Pascal Mercier once wrote, “We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.”
At the risk of romanticizing a place I called home for almost 40 years, it really was good to be back – I enjoyed myself immeasurably. And while some might not consider sharing your time with people more important than sighting-seeing, I can assure you that finding that little part of yourself you left behind is the greatest reward.