A Lifetime

Today I received an email entitled "Advice from Oprah for Girls". As the FLCD Circle's resident Oprah wannabe back in college, I couldn't help but smile as I waited for the page to open. As I read through the list, I must admit a bit of my heartstrings got tugged once more. The email ended with this saying: "They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them and an entire lifetime to forget them." In many ways, it said exactly what I have been thinking.

Earlier this evening I had a conversation with yet another one of my best friends, and she asked me if he was out of the picture. Although I adamantly said he hasn't been in the picture for the longest time, I couldn't help but think (or should I say ask?) myself if indeed it was true. By sheer coincidence (or a twist of fate) the email found its way to my inbox this evening.

I guess, yes, he is out of the picture. But I know in my heart that no matter what, snapshots of memories never really get "out of the picture". Maybe they fade off in the background or perhaps become overshadowed by new memories, but in the deep recesses of the heart, mind and soul, it still exists. I don't even think a lifetime is enough to forget them...

But isn't that what it's all about? That one moment that changes you...that makes you see the brilliance of color and appreciate the radiance of life in all hues and shades. And though there may be a cloud of gray, or even worse, the darkness of dispair, in the end, it still changes you. No matter what, in the end, it changes you for the better.

So there...it does take a minute to find someone who turns your world upside down, and hour to appreciate the roller coaster ride, a day to love it, and a lifetime to get over it --- a lifetime because the journey that comes after it becomes part of one's metamorphosis into a better, more beautiful, stonger self. And in the end, I don't think I really wanna get "over it", at least from the way we know getting over it means. I know I have gotten over the resentment, bitterness and pain, but I'll never get over the moment that someone made me find a side of me that I never appreciated (or acknowledged for that matter). Because of that moment, I learned to love --- not just another, but to love myself. That will stay with me for more than a lifetime.