Yesterday, I stood on the dock and bid my bunkmate Megan farewell as she left this place, probably forever. We are solidly committed to meeting up later this year, potentially at Disney World (finally....after I have been waiting my whole life, I am going to meet Snow White. How lovely). That being said, saying goodbye sucked.
Goodbyes suck. Change is difficult. Loss of a person, place, or time in your life hurts.
I think that we tend to believe that whatever time and place we happen to find ourselves in is the best that life has to offer us. I suppose it makes sense. It would be maladaptive to live in the past and always regret that you aren't still there. And we have no idea what lies in the future. The unknown is always a little daunting. I guess that leaves us right smack dab in the middle of the here and the now.
Maybe it is just me. Maybe I am just a little too narrow-minded or self-centered. Maybe I put God in a box. Someday, I hope that I can whole-heartedly embrace change as an opportunity for life to get better.
I will miss Megan. She is one of those people who literally brings joy and fun and an overwhelmingly fresh perspective to life. My favourite type of people are the ones whose presence makes the environment happier and more fun. She wins that contest! This all gives my human self plenty of reason to be sad because our lives have gone separate ways for a time.
Instead, I have chosen to be thankful for the wonderful time that I got to spend with my friend. My ridiculously-valuable obsession with cliche words of wisdom has resulted in the not-so-clever-or-particularly-brilliant-saying "Don't cry because it is over, Smile because it happened" to be brought to my mind. I think that maybe we can choose to look at any situation in this way. Taking from it everything that it had to offer and teach. Treasuring it as a beautiful memory that we can take with us forever. Considering it as a wonderful blessing in our lives.
We are not promised to be blessed in any particular way indefinitely. We are promised to be loved. Loved by a God who is good and knows what is best for us and the exact timing of what is best for us.
So, with that, I will shed a tear for my friend's departure. I will thank God for bringing someone so beautiful into my life to inspire me and to laugh with me. And I will be excited for whatever is to come.