A blast from the past

I was flipping through copies of some old blog posts and this one not only caught my eye and made me laugh, but it also caused me to remember just how much progress I have made on this journey called life. Here goes.

I never thought a simple lunch in my favorite Chinese restaurant could open my eyes to see that I really have moved on with my life. On top of that the buffet was delicious!

My lunch partner was a female friend who detests living in New Mexico. She is trying to sell her house and move to Texas to be near her grown children and grandchildren. The woman has accumulated a major amount of negative energy throughout her life and has never found a way to deal with it. It just keeps building up like a giant pile of Lego blocks.

Over the past few months I have tried to help her by suggesting things she could do to help herself. I have often reminded her, "I can't do it for you". Noticing that my life had changed dramatically from when we first met a few years ago, she slowly began to listen to me. She asked me how I obtained my knowledge and I told her books, the internet and  mostly just paying attention to what is going on around me.

I loaned her a copy of a book written in such simple language anyone could understand it. Hey it even had large print! At lunch today she returned the book. I asked if she had learned anything from her reading. Her answer amazed me. She said, "I got a lot out of the book and made copies of most of the pages, but I haven't applied it to my life yet".

With great restraint I said nothing. I wanted to yell WHAT! It just goes to show you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

Her crowning comment came at the end of the meal when she suggested if my daughter and grandson ever moved away I should move with them. My reply was why? I am not tied to my children. Then it dawned on me that the big difference between my friend and I is her family totally consists of her grown children and grandchildren. My family consists of the entire universe.

That realization was worth the price of lunch!

Author's note: since this story was written my friend did sell her house and move to be with her "family". They may or may not be happy about that.