Thinking Backwards

We all have challenges in our lives.  I’m no different.  For me, the challenges seem to come in the area of relationships and believing I’m enough.  I joke with myself that when I was signing up to come to this earth, I signed up for the advanced relationship course.  I’m successful and fortunate in virtually all areas of my life but in relationships I feel like I crash and burn or fail to get off the starting line.  I joked with a friend the other day that I should have named this website ‘Chronicles of a Train Wreck’.

I’m very good at keeping people from getting close to me.  Everyone is ok as long as they stay at arms length.   This is because deep inside I believe they will leave anyway.  I’ve had some people leave my life in harsh ways and spent a lot of time in shock.  It’s taken me some quality time to untangle the shock and these people’s exits.  I’ve learned a lot about myself from these experiences.  It’s still a challenge to let anyone in but I flat out refuse to quit trying.

I found myself wondering recently what my life would look like and how I would feel if I assumed people would choose to stay.  If I assumed they wouldn’t leave.  For me this is like thinking backwards.  But maybe by thinking backwards I’ll be able to take some giant steps forward.