About 3 years ago I dreamt that I was in a downtown Chicago office interviewing for a fancy new job. For whatever reason my mom came along for the interview and was patiently waiting for me in the office lobby. About half way through the interview it began to dawn on me that my mom passed away over a decade ago. This realization effectively transformed my dream into a lucid one. I quickly ditched the interview, grabbed my mom, and we spent the rest of the day enjoying downtown Chicago. I took her out for tea, caught her up on my life, and we made the absolute most of the little time we had together.
The memories from this dream are as vivid as the memories from my real life and I treasure them dearly.
I don’t want to come across as if I know better, but I would like to offer an alternate view.
You might not have kept that promise, but you’ve kept many others, which might be more important than that.
It is easy to feel down on that one missed promise while many more were kept. We are human after all and some promises are broken.
Life is an infinite series of missed opportunity. It seems dark, but to me, it’s comforting because I don’t have that obsession that I need to do everything in fear of missing out anymore. I can feel more in the present and enjoy all the memories I create with my loved ones.
And more than that, knowing that many opportunities will be missed because of the nature of life, I can enjoy the opportunities I do have more because I know I’ve made time for them.
You’ve made time for many opportunities with your wife. Be proud of that.
I want to offer you my sincerest condolences and I hope that life is treating you right.