Meeting people, and the value of a moment.

One shiny moment might be
all we have.

Sometimes we meet people, spend time with them, and bounce off them.  Our orbits may never take us close again; perhaps those hours/weeks/months with someone will be all we ever have with them.

I think many of us believe in an idea of ‘forever’ within our relationships/friendships.  We, on some level, expect we’ll always be friends with the people we know, those we meet.  It’s almost as if, in order to be ‘meaningful’, something must last forever.  And sometimes it will.  But most of the time it won’t.

As I get older I seem to be becoming more of an optimist (I know...).  I used to always get upset about losing touch with people, or not making a stronger ‘connection’ with someone.  I would focus on missing them, or on the ‘what might have been’.

But it doesn’t have to be like that; a friendship or relationship doesn’t have to be forever to be meaningful.  That person was there for a time, and it was good.  Don’t undervalue that.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t grieve for things we lose, but there comes a time to let it go or else we might lose the good in it too.

I think this ties in a little with my ‘Let’s talk about sex’ post about savouring the memories and smiling about them often.  Every friendship and relationship, whether it’s for a few minutes or many years, was worth something for that moment.   And isn’t that what life is: a collection of moments? 

If we had even just one that shone with someone, it’s worth celebrating.  Keep those moments for what they were and leave what they ‘could have been’ to the fantasists. 

Enjoy the reality; there’ll be other shiny-moments ahead you don’t want to miss.