I’m convinced that one of the main differences between an optimist and someone who walks around with a black cloud over their head without an umbrella; and horribly mis-matched shoes is this:
They believe, as I do, that we get more than just one thing to love
Ask anyone with multiple marriages under their belt if there is only one soul mate per lifetime. (don’t ask mid divorce).
The answer is no.
Optimist. Faithful to the belief that if your true love ship has sailed, just stand at the dock, another will come along.
I’ve loved several men in my life, each relationship was equally powerful but drastically different, and at the time, in the moment, I was convinced they were my one-and-only soul mate — the connection was that intense.
I loved some with only my head; a few exclusively with the region below my waist; but only a couple with all my heart, and they were spaced decades apart.
Thank God I had optimistically stood on that dock waiting, albeit impatiently, for another ship to come in. If I hadn’t, the loss would have been profound.
We get more than just one thing to love.
I found comfort in that because I often got distracted by my phone or the lady with one pink roller in her hair, and I worried that I’d miss my golden opportunities as they passed me by.
Now I know better.
But only because I’m older and wiser (ha) and because I know that as we change and grow, preferences shift and we start to want something different, something…more.
Thank God those ships kept coming — When situations ended I stood waiting for a virtual fleet of ships to come into port — I think I saw you there, (I could tell it was you even with the hat and sunglasses.)
And they always come.
Guaranteed.
This applies to careers as well.
By the time you get to be my age, (our age) you’ve worn many hats so to speak.
I loved working at the Antique Mall, I adored acting and singing, I loved being a jeweler, I LOVED my store, and when that ended I loitered long enough on the dock that writing found me— and it may be the all time love of my life.
We get more than just one thing to love.
I used to LOVE playing jacks as a kid, probably because I was inexplicably good at it, (good eye/hand coordination, that’s all) then I LOVED Barbie’s and Monopoly.
One summer as a fifteen year old I LOVED riding my bike up and down the hills the ten miles to the beach and back everyday. (now just the thought make me want to puke).
I had a friend who LOVED to ice skate, you could find her at the rink every morning, six days a week at 5:30 a.m. She was obsessed. Soon she became so good she started to compete.
I’m not exactly sure what happened, an awkward growth spurt or becoming boy crazy, but one summer she lost interest and all that changed, and by the fall she LOVED horses and started training and competing in dressage.
Now she owns a successful interior design business. Go figure.
Obviously she spent a lot of time on that dock, catching one ship and then the next, and the next, LOVING each one that came along.
We get more than just one thing to love.
More than one great love,
More than one fantastic hobby,
More than one way to wear our hair that makes us look the way we envision ourselves,
More than one goal in life, or purpose, or destiny (yes, I said destiny)
More than one thing that we are better at than anybody else,
More than one chance…
We get more than just one thing to love.
Marinate in the thought of that all weekend,
Bon Voyage! and Carry on,
xox
