Last night, I talked a little about the past. Tonight I want to take a look at the present.

Sometimes we need to stop and take a look around us. It can be so easy to get caught up in the things that come at us directly. Sometimes things happen. Sometimes they are bad things. Sometimes we lose things. Sometimes it can feel like our world is falling apart.

We have two choices though, and we always have that choice. One is to dwell on what was, let our thoughts trail back to what we once had, once knew, once loved. This is a natural process to go through, it will be there whether we like it or not, but the question is will we stay in it and let it consume us?

If not we can move to the second choice, which is to divert our thoughts from what is missing, and take a good look at what is present around us. For every negative in life, there is a positive that goes with it. Such is the balance of the universe. Take a look at your positives, cause there are some. Although it may not always feel that way, you’re probably just ignoring them.

Open your eyes, right now. Whether you’re reading this now in the best of moods, or feeling rather bad about something, really try to open your mind. Push aside your negatives just for a moment, and bring into focus your positives. Your good friends, a loyal pet, your favourite book, anything or anyone that can always make you smile. There are endless possibilities and I’m sure each of us can make a list that reaches on further than you might think.

Keeping these things in mind are what can drive you forward. These are the things that you are carrying with you into the future, not the bad stuff you are leaving behind. So move along in life, mourn what is lost, but push yourself forward on the good things in life, cause there are many and they will keep you happy so long as you let them.

Earlier today, as my mind was wandering as it usually does, my thoughts wandered quite far back… several years in fact. I was thinking of people I know today and thinking back to when I met them. Some I can’t really remember; I remember a time I didn’t know them, and then I remember the times since we met, but time in between can be rather vague or vanished completely. With others it is still very vivid.

High school friends (who I have very little contact with now) are some of the vague ones. I remember being in school with them, hanging out outside of school with them.. but I guess the whole getting to know them when school started has gotten quite hazy. Some memories stand out but I guess most have been pushed away. High school wasn’t exactly the favourite part of my life, and in some ways I get why I may not be holding on to those memories.

My pals from uni are a lot easier to remember, perhaps cause we are still friends or perhaps cause it wasn’t so long ago (but still over 4 years!). K was the first one I met. I remember it was the first day, and I was sat in the comp science café passing the time til the first lecture. K came over and asked if I was also starting comp science. We went to the lecture together and the friendship kicked off from there.

Next was A. I remember seeing him around the café and in lectures a few times, and one day me and Karl joined him at a table in the café and joined up for lectures etc. Our group then expanded to include J, who was also sat with us in lectures and we gradually got to know each other better.

Then there are those I met in Warcraft. Again some I can remember vividly, others I have known for years yet can’t quite remember when we came to meet. The most notable is M. I can remember a lot of how we met and have lots of memories since then.

I remember our first contact was me picking her out of a list of Priests I was asking to come heal my group in Scarlet Monastery. I remember waiting for her outside the dungeon whilst the others rushed in. I remember how she said we’d most certainly be seeing each other again once the run was complete. I remember seeing her come online in my friend list a few days later and wondering whether to say hi. I did and we talked a bit, I remember I was in Stranglethorn Vale at the time. We used to talk in the private messages a bit, and then gradually started grouping up to play together more. I have a string of these memories up to present day, and that was about 3 and a half years ago.

What is the strangest thing of remembering these things, is looking how far you have come. At one time, I didn’t know these people and now I am very good friends. Some I have grown to know very well indeed yet I can still recall a time when they were practically strangers.

An interesting thought is to then think of how things could be so very different. Taking M for example, what if I had not sent her that message a few days after meeting? Perhaps I never would have and perhaps she wouldn’t have either. Such a tiny step has a major effect on our lives. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if we hadn’t come this far. I’m very glad I sent out that message.

It goes to show that anything is possible, anything can happen. Nothing is a given, and even the tiniest of acts can have large repercussions on life as a whole.