As I walked along the beach gazing out over the setting sun, I heard a voice asking me if I was going to hang out for the sunset.  I was surprised to see a young man sitting up against a log, bike laying down on the sand behind the log.  I was so much in my own little world, I didn’t notice him there.  Surprisingly, I looked up, smiled and said hello.  I went on to say that it was a beautiful night and I would be hanging out for the sunset, for sure.

As I walked away I began to wonder if this young man was trying to invite me to watch the sunset with him.  It seemed odd, as I was much older than he was, so it couldn’t be a romantic connection.

I walked a bit further on down the beach and found my own log to sit on.  I reflected on the part of me that doesn’t have much trust in the human race.  I noticed my thoughts around having an innocent conversation with a young man and how I needed to read something into it.  If he was too young to be romantically interested in me, then why would he want to talk with me?  Crazy question.  Some people are just friendly.  I realized that I could just let it go and hold this man, and every other person who wanted to talk to me, responsible for asking for what they want, rather than dropping hints I may never get.

A short time later the young man surfaced in front of me and asked again “are you watching the sunset all by yourself?”  I patted the log next to me and invited him to sit down.  I realized my first impression that he wanted to talk to me was correct.

As he sat down, I asked him his name and he told me it was Kristopher.  He was a very attractive young man who revealed that he had just turned thirty.  I asked Kristopher the usual “getting to know you” questions, like “where are you from,” where do you live now, what brings you to this area?”  As we became more comfortable with each other he proceeded to share his heart with me, his deepest pain.  He told me that he was heartbroken.  His girlfriend kicked him out after an on again, off again relationship of several years.  He had bonded with her children and wanted to be a good Father figure to them, as they didn’t have a relationship with their Father.

As Kristopher talked about his situation, I began to feel like I was in a counseling session.  The story was very familiar.  This man was describing the same kind of relationship dynamic that presents with narcissistic abuse.  She was very jealous, controlling and deceptive, and he couldn’t figure out what he did to cause her to behave the way she did. Kristopher was a sensitive, empathic young man and it seemed the woman he had walked away from was lacking in empathy and honesty.  I told him that the woman sounded like she might be narcissistic and he said “that’s what my Mother told me!”

The more we talked, the more he seemed to be putting the pieces of the puzzle together in his head.  He knew the relationship was toxic and that couldn’t be good for anyone, but he felt responsible for her children who can’t get away from the toxicity.  These weren’t his children, but he obviously loved them as if they were.  It was a very admirable quality.

We stopped to watch the burning orange sun casting a glow across the evening sky.  It was the most beautiful sunset I had seen in a long time.  Both of us pulled out our phones and started snapping photos.  After the sun descended, Kristopher told me he was blown away.  He couldn’t believe how “God” led him to me.  This was just what he needed, he told me.  He felt so much better.  He had been feeling so lonely and disconnected.

Synchronicity is an interesting thing.  I too was amazed at this demonstration.  Here was a lonely man, struggling with heartbreak and confusion and he knew, on some unconscious level, that he needed to talk to me.  I knew, on some level, that he wanted to talk to me.  I was so grateful to have been used by spirit in such a magical way.  I admired Kristopher’s courage to reach out.  So many people in pain never do reach out, and they get lost in the abyss of their painful emotions without any support or understanding as to what is happening.

I knew loneliness.  I knew pain.  I knew what it was to be so confused about a relationship I couldn’t see straight.  Had I not confronted all my painful emotions, I wouldn’t be who I am, and be able to offer support to others who were struggling with these issues.  I felt grateful for this.

Kristopher and I talked until dark and it was time for us to go our own way.  I explained to him that he was young, he had his whole life in front of him and he would gain strength and wisdom from this relationship that would eventually lead him to the right relationship where he could have a family of his own and a woman who truly deserved a man like him.  I could see that deep down, he knew this was true.

We gave each other a big hug; one of those long, lingering hugs that felt like two longtime friends meeting again on the road of life.  I was happy we both trusted in the divine guidance that was at work here.

As I walked back to camp in the dark, I reflected on the magic of life and was grateful that spirit reminded me that every step of my journey is divine perfection, even if it doesn’t always feel that way.  I am always right where I need to be.