Someone had set up a full length mirror in the woods, along with a camera. When a bear ambled by and saw herself in the glass, she bolted. She reared up to fight back, only gradually understanding that the reflection was her own, and there was no one to attack. 

 

On occasion, I articulate a message of empathy, and good boundaries at one point in my life. Then, in what I can only attribute to time travel, the message is redelivered to me when I need it. 

 

Once, was when I was a brand-new classroom teacher. In those days of engagement, John and I wrote to each other in that effusive way of couples in love. As it happened, one letter was about how busy I felt. 

 

"Setting up a classroom and keeping ahead of seven students is a challenge! I hope that I can remember that, if ever someone else says they are too busy because of their teaching." 

 

It was pretty specific, really, and included a word of caution to my future self. Fifteen years later, I found myself feeling sidelined by a friend who was a new teacher, and in God's impeccable timing I came across the letter. 

 

It is hard to give a rebuttal to oneself, especially when the advice is spot on. Those words pruned my thoughts. 

 

A few years back, I made a bold statement about how grateful I was to not have been judged in a certain area of my life. It was true then, and it is still true, that I have been spared scrutiny from others. Recently, when I was reflecting on my own tendency to have opinions about someone else in that same arena, my own words echoed in my ears. I could picture myself saying them. 

 

I felt like the bear in the video.