Life doesn't punish me, it educates me

July 2, 2023 Yesterday I had texted with Nicole, my Bumble match, and we had arranged to meet today. She had a small child and seemed petite and sweet herself. Her last date had made her think he wanted something serious, but in reality he just wanted to get laid. He did and then left.

In the chat, I noticed that we got on well. The plan was to meet at her favorite café in Bad Oeynhausen to get to know each other in person. But when I got out of the shower this morning and looked at my phone, I was struck by her sudden refusal. She didn't feel ready for a relationship yet. I replied sympathetically and ended my voice message with my favorite saying from Bodo Schäfer's affirmation: "Oh yes, and Nicole? Remember: life doesn't punish you, it educates you." Then I deleted our match, my only match.

I had nothing more to do with Gaby from Moldova either, as she didn't think it was cool that I was still active on Bumble. She expected me to delete the app before our date. I assured her that I would do so as soon as we had arranged a concrete date. But she rejected every suggestion I made on the grounds of "lack of time". The behavior was confusing and I felt like I was being taken for a ride. "Strange, cryptic women lurking around Bumble," I thought when I saw that she had suddenly broken up our match.

So today I changed my plans. I decided to visit my mom and go for a long walk. I took the train to Harsum and from there I walked three and a half kilometers along the field path to Borsum. It was windy but warm and I was thinking about all sorts of things. One of the crazy thoughts was:

"The bus brakes. Meanwhile, I am sitting in the middle at the very back in the direction of travel. A braking force (actio) acts on the bus, which acts against the direction of travel and reduces the speed of the bus. A counterforce (reactio) acts on me as a passenger, which increases my speed in the direction of travel and throws me forward through the aisle. The law of conservation of speed. The decreasing speed of the bus results in my increasing speed, so that our overall speed remains constant."

When we arrived in Borsum, nobody was there. Mom was probably on early shift. I made myself a coffee with lots of foam, sat on the balcony and stretched my face towards the sun. With a broad grin, I whispered: "Thank you for always guiding me in the right direction."