My World's Collided!!!

One of the courses I'm taking is called "Dispute Resolution". A very interesting read, and significant to one's every day life as I found out last week. For those of you who know me, I tend to be a very emotional person and usually let everyone know how I feel. Just ask my family........they are the ones who experience it on a very regular basis.

The chapter we were studying was about emotions. We discussed how to keep them in check when dealing with conflict, what words to use, and how to diffuse a situation that is getting emotionally out of control. But, the one area that collided with my everyday life is how previous experiences, when given the opportunity, can arouse emotions so strong that they throw you for a loop. You forgot about how it affected you at the time and the simplest thing will trigger a years worth of events, thoughts and, yes, emotions.

Two of my class mates and I went into the library at the college and there he was. We had met when I was 17 at a christian retreat called Agape. He was a team leader and we clicked immediately. It was November. In February that following year he asked me to marry him, he gave me a promise ring for my 18th birthday in May and by that October I was in a tale spin. Too much way too fast!

Anyway, seeing him brought a flood of emotion into me and I told the girls who he was. Of course, like high school kids, "go over and say hi!!" was the first thing they said. Not sure what to do, as he was there working on the photo copy machine, I contemplated. After a couple of agonizing minutes, and these two chirping in my ear, I decided to go and say hello. I tapped him on the arm and he was truly shocked to see me standing there but genuinely happy. I gave him a quick hug and asked how he was doing, he is now a Grampa!!!! It was wonderful to see the gleam in his eye as he talked about his 5 week old granddaughter.

After a brief conversation we parted ways and guess what class I had to go to...you guessed it, Dispute Resolution and we were continuing our conversation about emotions. In the short time it took to walk from the library to the class room I had gone through the major events of my relationship with him. It was a significant part of my life that will remain with me.

I always knew that emotion played a major role in life but once you have the opportunity to study it AND experience it at the same time, it puts it into a different perspective.

Thanks for the memories William, and congratulations!!

J : )