The Story of my Life

Isn't this the hardest? I've always believed in giving 100% in relationships. Cause I don't wana find myself years from now, telling someone...Hey you're the one that got away. But then again, there's a risk. To give your 100% is to open up yourself to more hurt. But at least, you can proudly tell yourself..."I loved...I gave it my all. Still I lost. But hey! I'm so much smarter now."

It would be nice, however, to one day meet the one whom you thought got away, go up to him and say, "You almost got away..."

I was browsing through some of my friends home pages, and here's what I found:

In your life, you'll make note of a lot of
people. Ones with whom you shared something
special, ones who will always mean something.
There's the one you first kissed, the one you
first loved, the one you lost your virginity to,
the one you put on a pedestal, the one you're
with...and the one that got away.

Who is the one that got away? I guess it's that
person with who everything was great, everything
was perfect, but the timing was just wrong. There
was no fault in the person, there was no flaw in
the chemistry, but the cards just didn't fall the
right way, I suppose.

I believe in the fact that ending up with
someone, finding a longtime partner that is, does
not lie merely in the other person. I can actually
argue that an equal part, or maybe even the
greater part, has to do with the matter of timing.
It has to do with you being ready to settle down
and commit to someone in a way that goes beyond
the little niceties of giddy romance.

How often have you gone through it without even
realizing it? When you're not ready to commit in
that mature manner, it doesn't matter who you're
with, it just doesn't work. Small problems
become big; inconsequentials become dealbreakers
simply because you're not ready and it shows. It's
not that you and the person you're with are no
good; it's just that it's not yet right, and
little things become the flashpoint of that fact.

Then one day you're ready. You really are. And
when this happens you'll be ready to settle down
with someone. He or she may not be the most
perfect, they might not be the brightest star of
romance to ever have burned in your life, but
it'll work because you're ready. It'll work
because it's the right time and you'll make it
work. And it'll make sense, it really will.

So that day comes when you're finally making
sense of things, and you find yourself to be a
different person. Things are different, your
approach is different, you finally understand who
you are and what you want, and you've become ready
because the time has truly arrived. And mind you,
there's no telling when this day will come .
Hopefully you're single but you could be in a
long-term relationship, you could be married with
three kids, it doesn't matter. All you know is
that you've changed, and for some reason, the one
that got away, is the first person you think
about.

You'll think about them because you'll wonder,
"What if they were here today?" You'll wonder,
"What if we were together now, with me as I am and
not as I was?" That's what the one that got away
is. The biggest "What if?" you'll have in your
life.

If you're married, you'll just have to accept
the fact that the one that got away, got away.
Believe me, no matter how fairy tale you think
your marriage is, this can happen to the best of
us. But hopefully you're mature enough to realize
that you're already with the one you're with and
this is just another test of your commitment,
one which will just strengthen your marriage when
you get past it.
Sure, you'll think about him/her every so often,
but it's alright. It's never nice to live with a
"might have been," but it happens.

Maybe the one that got away is the one who's
already married. In which case it's the same
thing. You just have to accept and know that your
memories of that person will probably bring a
nice little smile to your lips in the future when
you're old and gray and reminiscing.

But if neither of that is the case, then it's
different. What do you do if it's not yet too
late? Simple...find him, find her. Because the
very existence of a "one that got away" means that
you'll always wonder, what if you got that one?

Ask him out to coffee, ask her out to a movie,
it doesn't matter if you've dropped in from out of
nowhere. You'd be surprised, you just might be
"the one that got away" as well for the person who
is your "the one that got away."

You might drop in from out of nowhere and it
won't make a difference. If the timing is finally
right, it'll all just fall into place somehow and
you know, I'm thinking, it would be a great
feeling, in the end, to be able to say to someone.
...
"Hey you, you're the one that almost got away."

So there, in case you find "the one who almost got away" take that risk and tell him/her. Do I have a "the one who got away"? I don't think so.