Tumbling Around

I had a friend for a while who believed that everything that happens to us is either the result of our choices or random coincidence. Things don't "happen for a reason" he would insist. There's no such thing as karma, fate, or guardian angels.

I have to respectfully disagree. I'm one of those people who believes in cosmic cause and effect - that your actions now can have repercussions in an hour, a day, a year, or maybe even in your next life. And I have truly, truly come to believe that that people come in and out of my life for a reason.

Yesterday I ran in to my former neighbor Diane while I was meeting with my knitting group. I was at a coffee shop about 20 miles from home and she just happened to be there at the same time. I hadn't seen Diane in maybe 8 or 10 months, and I always loved having her a

s a neighbor. She is sweet, genuine, and fun to talk to. Our dogs played together now and then, and her oldest daughter babysat my nephew once or twice. 

The first thing Diane said when she saw me was "Wow, you look beautiful!" Now since I have been feeling anything but beautiful for the last month, these words were incredibly uplifting. There have been changes in me over the past months and years. I'm a big fan of metaphors . . . I feel sometimes as if I've been bumping and bouncing around in a rock tumbler. Diane reminded me that all that uncomfortable spinning is making me shinier.