I felt torn between the past and the future. Looking at old pictures while I was back in med school, I miss the way life was so much simpler then. You wake up, grab a cup of coffee, attend classes, go to lunch with friends and hear the latest hospital gossip, attend more classes (while pretending NOT to be asleep), then simply hang out before going home. There was a sense of freedom in the predictability and simplicity of life. Then, it was okay to goof off once in a while.

Now, I face responsibilities, expectations, and the unpredictable. A mistake can lead to consequences I dare not think about. My nights are filled with fitful dreams... I have changed, and so have my friends of long ago. We are separated not only by space, but also by the hurried pace of our lives, our jobs, our families, and the people we have become.

I have never felt more lonely or alone than today...

Then a small surprise, I receive a message from a friend I haven't heard from in years. Words of support and encougement in a couple of sentences. Just what I needed. Serendipity, coincidence, or fate? Imagine, me, hanging on to a couple of sentences written by a person half a world away!

As usual, my thoughts have run away with me. Perhaps I needn't worry so much. If a hapless **** can grow in the most unfriendly circumstance, then perhaps I, too, can brave my way through all this.