For the longest time, I was content being by myself. I had nobody I really had to answer to, and nobody I had to consider in my planning. Do I want pizza tonight? Should I uproot and move across the Atlantic? I was perfectly happy in my bubble of discovery and crazy ideas I didn’t expect anybody to really grasp.
This was the life I had become accustomed to, as someone who had no idea where ‘home’ really was and whose whole existence was based around planning for the next unknown thing. In fact, being based somewhere and not being able to leave was a much more scary thought than not knowing what lay ahead.
Yet, ironically, despite having earlier moved to Brazil with nothing but a suitcase and a handful of Portuguese words, the thought of moving elsewhere in Finland was daunting. I really wanted to find a job and stay in Helsinki, where I had grown up. That door kept slamming shut in my face, much to my chagrin. But, boy, am I thankful I didn’t stubbornly try to stay in Helsinki, because moving to Vaasa will probably be the most important decision I’ll ever make.
You messed with my whole world
That’s where I met you — the love of my life, my best friend, my wife. I still don’t quite know what happened, because we only met a little over a year ago, and today marks our anniversary since I asked you out. I was perfectly happy on my own before I met you, but you messed with my whole world, turning my finely tuned routines and habits on their heads, and I didn’t even mind. How could I not mind something I had carefully curated for over 30 years?
This was a whole new level of crazy. I was ready to throw out everything I had built. Obviously, we were both old enough to understand the rush of hormones and the love darts that kept coming, so we didn’t go too crazy. Except we did. But not in the way you think. The keyword was trust. Opening up about happy things, sad things, old hurts, good and bad experiences — that’s what supercharged everything.
Just a few weeks away from the coronavirus pandemic
Long story short, within a year, we had time to date, be engaged, plan a wedding and get married, while making our careers, travelling, maintaining friendships and still do the things each of us like to do. And, all of this happened in the nick of time, because our wedding was literally just a few weeks away from the coronavirus pandemic. We even had time for our honeymoon in Andorra, from where we returned just days before lockdowns in Europe.
We’re incredibly thankful, and consider this past year together to have been exactly as meant to be, with all of life’s obstacles and ups and downs that made us happen. I really can’t reiterate enough how much I appreciate hardships, because for all of life’s difficulties, I have yet to witness a time when these hadn’t been worth it. And this goes equally for the bad times we’re currently experiencing in the world; the coronavirus will test many of us, but as the saying goes, “a smooth sea never made a skillful sailor“, so do I believe we’ll get out stronger, and hopefully more united on this planet we call our home.
Finntrovert 
Leave a comment