Day in Review: Why I am Still Single and a Special Thank You - Part 2

Part 2: How a Random Event Saved My Life....

I assume it saved my life, but no one really knows....I guess I could be run over by a truck tomorrow, but I have the feeling I have a lot left to do on this Earth.

Randomness is weird, isn't it?  Obviously something you aren't expecting, but sometimes you aren't surprised when it hits you...

I was a smoker.  I smoked cigarettes and had for years.  I was an addict. (I suppose I still am and will always be) I started smoking regularly in 1999 and was still at it. 

I had seen people fight against cigarettes, seen people sick from cigarettes and seen people die from cigarettes...yet I still smoked.

Lets be real. If you smoke...and are truly a smoker, no amount of pictures of diseased lungs, body bags or lectures from concerned loved ones are going to make you stop.  You have to make the choice yourself, when it is right for you to do it and you get the right influence. I did it 6 months ago, on February 1st. Lets go back.....to early January, 2011....

I was sleeping....and dreaming....and in my dream, I saw a woman...and she was my friend, though I didn't know her.  She held my hand and led me along.  We were close...best friends in the dream...I felt closer to her than anyone...then she disappeared.  In her place a very old man...all I remember is him telling me this: "Remember the woman".  I can still feel her hand in mine to this day.

When I woke, I was nervous...I almost always remember my dreams...I interpret them regularly.  I was afraid of what this meant. Why did I need this woman and why was she in my dream.  I knew her, but I couldn't place her yet in my mind. How do I interpret this? I didn't know this woman in my waking life so why was she invading my dreams?

I am a dream interpreter, as I said above.  (Everyone should listen to and interpret their dreams in my opinion, especially if you see people who are unknown to you!)  I have done research.  It is common, among those who believe in the power of dreaming, to believe when other people visit our dreams, they are one of two things: 1) Our loved ones visiting us from the other side or 2) The souls of people on Earth, connecting with our own for a reason.
 
This woman intrigued me...and bothered me.  I knew her...but I didn't.


I kept her face in my head as I went through my day...my week...my month...I smoked a cigarette almost hourly...I was at a pack a day....I saw her face in my head...I felt like she was my friend, but it bothered me that I could not place who she was...until I did.  I had seen her over and over in my head and honestly, it annoyed the hell out of me...until one day...I saw her.

It was similar to a movie moment, where things moved in slow motion...like my mouth opened slowly, my hand went to my mouth in shock and I just stood there...staring, kind of afraid to move like it was a ghost...I lit a cigarette...and smoked.

I watched her often...(I know, probably like a psycho...you don't have to tell me!!!) trying to figure out the mystery. The more I learned about her, the more I heard her talk about herself, we really did have a lot in common...freaky things like a love of the same obscure band that no one I know had ever heard of.

She said two words...and that's all it took for the light bulb to come on. "Don't Smoke". That's all it took. That day, I smoked my last cigarette. I don't know why it was her that set the process in motion, all I know is I knew I had to do it. I just stopped. No patch, no gum, no nicotine replacement. (Although as many of you know I put on about 100 pounds from eating nothing but 500 pounds of peanut butter M&M's for a week)

So that's it.  Is it that simple? Do I say thank you? She didn't really know what she did. (I did tell her later, though I don't know if she remembers) What did she do? Maybe she saved my life? Is that too dramatic? I'm a dramatic person though. It may not be so dramatic, it may just be truth. No one knows if that next cigarette could have been the one that started the process of disease. I feel like I have known her for years.

When I think about this, I think of the book "The Five People You Meet in Heaven". Who knows if it's true, if that's what happens...there are millions of interpretations of Heaven...what I do know is I am thankful for the dream, thankful for this person crossing paths with me and I thank God I was there at the right place and right time to run into her and hear those words.

So if you are reading this...Thank You. Just remember, when you have a bad day or feel down like we all do sometimes...that you made a difference. Smile.

"So raise a glass to turnings of the season and watch it as it arcs towards the sun" from "Don't Carry it All" - The Decemberists