Every road leads to somewhere we have never been before. That makes for a lot of places yet to be explored. Sure, we’ve driven on some roads several different times, and several roads many different times, but no road goes to the same place twice. Ever.
Let me explain. Travel to a previously visited destination, over a road already driven, is a duplicate experience, but duplicate only in the fact that the road doesn’t move, and the place we’re going to doesn’t either. They remain constant. They remain exactly where they were the last time we traveled. But nothing else is the same. Everything else changes. Everything else is different. And that is what makes for an interesting life.
The people are each in a different mental/psychological/emotional framework. They are in a different physical condition, they are a little older, hopefully a little wiser, and their interests have waxed and waned since the last time we might have been there. Some babies have been born. Some people have been diagnosed with unexpected illness, and some have recovered from illness. Some folks have died. Some have lost their jobs, and others have started new jobs. People have moved out of town, or into town, made diet changes, colored their hair, had surgeries, adopted a new style, or a new life style, undergone spiritual or philosophical awakenings, learned different skills, a different language, taken up new hobbies, got married, divorced, broken up with boyfriends or girlfriends, found new loves, adopted a pet. Etc. Some people have gone to jail, and some have been released. Some kids have started school, and some have quit school. Some have graduated and gone on to higher education, some to new careers. Some have joined the military, or returned home from service overseas. Some have discovered hidden talents, started a band, raised a calf with the 4H Club, painted a barn, bought a new car, or sold an old one. Some have signed on to the unemployment rolls, or welfare. Some have purchased new homes, lost homes, moved into, or out of rental units, or hit the road in a trailer.
It might feel like we’ve been someplace before, but if we look more closely into a given situation, rather than just looking at it, we’ll see that it’s actually much different than it was. As I said, that is what makes for an interesting life.
The same holds true in our relationships with people.
