"I Felt Accepted!"

​After I had got back from Bali and Australia, towards the end of 2009, I was no longer the same person. What had also played a part here were the experiences that I had when I was on a course in Belgium, which took place just before I went away.

Ultimately, I wanted to continue from where I had left off and to put my plans into action. The trouble was I wasn’t completely sure how I was going to do this and, as I was no longer around the same people, it became harder for me to maintain the state that I was in.

A New Start

This was also a time when I decided to look for somewhere else where I could do salsa dancing. I thought about what it was like where I had been going and I soon came to see that it was no longer the right place for me to go.

I might even have gone there a few times after I had got back, but it didn’t feel right going there anymore. I had moved on and I knew that it was time for me to find somewhere where I could express who I had now become.

The Next Step

What got me into salsa dancing to begin with was that I had met someone on a course who did it. He said that being able to dance was important and that this was also a great way to meet people.

I soon found somewhere that was a bit further away and after I had been going there for a few months, I came across a leaflet. This leaflet was for a salsa society that was at a university nearby.

I Was Curious

It wasn’t that I enjoyed doing salsa dancing so much that I wanted to go somewhere else, too; it was that I thought it would be good to see what I was like there. The main difference was that where I had been going had people of all ages, whereas this was somewhere where everyone was generally the same age.

Up until this point, I hadn’t spent much time at a university, so it was good to see what it was all about. And after I had been there a little while, I started speaking to a guy called Ben.

An Expected Relationship

It soon became clear that we had a connection, and this was the last place I thought I would meet someone who was also on the path. This was someone who was confident, friendly and he had an interest in self-development and spirituality.

We soon arranged to get together and after we had got together a few times, I felt accepted and that I belonged. And as this was a time in my life when I felt disconnected and as though I was on the outside looking in, it had a big effect on me.

A Strong Bond

As time went by we became close friends, and my life would have been a lot harder if he wasn’t around when my father was in hospital the following year. Therefore, even though I hadn’t known him for long at this point, it was as though I had known him for years.

It is due to moments like this and the other experiences that we have had that I am extremely grateful that our paths have crossed. This makes me think about how we can come into contact with right people when we least expect it.

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Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk