Speaking of chance, I called a Waikiki dive shop to arrange a dive and ended up knowing the divemaster from nine years ago on my first dive.  He told me today he contracts with five different Waikiki shops so I guess it’s not that much of coincidence, but still…

Word travels fast, and I received a phone call from another friend of mine, Wil, from nine years ago.  I knew him pretty well, but haven’t spoken to him in all these years.  We’ve had a couple of brief phone conversations because his friend the divemaster never showed for our dive yesterday.  It was weird to hear his voice after all of this time and it set me to reflecting. 

Nine years ago, my life was a roller coaster.  I made my own fate; I was happy one minute and angst-filled the next.  I had a horrid temper, frequent migraines, and a penchant for being a wench.  I remember (while wincing) how I would snap at people I loved, be it family or a boyfriend or whatever.  I was so busy trying to control everyone that I didn’t have time to control myself.

Now?  Well, I’m not perfect by any stretch, but I am a lot better.  I think nine years ago was a turning point for me where I started to try to be a better person.  It culminated in meeting my husband seven years ago and promising myself I would change my relationship habits.  I don’t engage in a lot of the petty stuff I used to do.  I am so thankful that I started to change nine years ago as a result of my good friend from Hawaii.  If I had not followed his example and changed my demeanor, I would never have been ready to meet my husband and to be the kind of person with whom he’d want to spend the rest of his life. 

People walk in and out of our lives all of the time.  It’s worth taking a moment to see what you can learn from everyone.

Why am I so philosophical these days?  I don’t know.  I think it could be that the relaxation time has given my brain room to stretch itself in different ways.