In life, timing is everything. Whether or not you catch that 8am train or get to your destination five minutes late can dictate the entire course of your day and ultimately, your whole future. Some people don’t believe in fate or destiny, but I think it’s real. I also believe that everything happens for a reason, regardless of whether it was a miracle or a tragedy. .
The other night, I was watching The Vow. I had already seen it about a dozen times before, but this time, it really affected me more so than ever before. Channing Tatum’s character reiterates the notion of ‘moments of impact.’ These moments of impact create a ripple effect in our lives that will stay with us forever. Specifically, he was referring to the act of falling in love. For me, that’s exactly what happened… it just didn’t work out.
I met the love of my life at the wrong time. Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had a failed relationship, but this particular one really shook me to my core. The entire timeline of our relationship followed that of a romance movie’s plot, except for the fact that we didn’t end up together.
The way in which we met almost sounds like one of those made-up fantasies that people only wish would happen to them. At the time, I had no intention of it happening nor did I think anything would come of it. I met my ex-boyfriend for the first time on a subway train going from Times Square to Grand Central Station. From there, the rest was history.
We were together, on and off, for a duration of nearly 18 months, which was all the time that he was even able to be in the United States. He was from another country and only in the United States purely for work. Like me, he also had no intention of meeting someone the way we did, and it made things incredibly difficult. He eventually had to leave the country and with neither of us willing to pick up our lives and start a new one in another place, our relationship came to a messy and heartbreaking end.Â
As mad as I am at my ex about how the whole thing went down, I also can’t fully blame him. After all, I made up 50% of the relationship. The thing is, I could create a laundry list of reasons why it didn’t work out, but at the end of the day, I pin it on one sole reason. And that reason is timing.
I have no doubt in my mind that we loved each other deeply, but we both weren’t ready for the kind of love that we were in for. We weren’t mature enough. We didn’t quite have everything figured out when we met. To this day, we still don’t. Regardless, it doesn’t mean that the relationship had an less significance or value. It was just bad timing.
I met the love of my life at the wrong time. I don’t regret it. Though it’s sad and it hurts, it’s also a part of life. You never know when something is going to begin, nor will you know when something is going to end. You can only hope for the best and just enjoy the ride.
