There are some dominoes on the table and you don't have anything else to do so you decide to line the dominoes up in a little pattern. You have to be careful because if you move too fast and are rough you could knock down all the ones you've already lined up. Of course as you go along one or two may accidentally fall and you pick those up and keep going. You're reaching closer to the end and have 3 dominoes left when all of a sudden somebody walks by and unintentionally bumps the table and all of the dominoes fall.....
You could simply pick the dominoes up and start again but instead you're frustrated so you just put the dominoes back in the box they came in and not even bother with it.
The next week you're back at the table and you see the box of dominoes. For a brief moment you think about stacking them again but then you remember what happened the last time and decide that you'd rather not even put in the effort. After all it would just be a waste of time...or would it be?
This metaphor came to me last night in a dream. The dominoes represent a relationship. As you go through a relationship with someone you're adding to it. Sharing time, ideas, experiences, etc. Each domino represents the deeper you get into the relationship. Of course there are trials and tribulations in every relationship. Those are the the few dominoes that fall down as your trying to continue building. You don't usually stop stacking your dominoes just because 2 or 3 fall along the way. You pick those up and keep going. Why? because you've already put in a lot of effort into what you're trying to build.
But sometimes no matter how careful we are, something happens and everything we've built comes crashing down...just like with the dominoes. It just wasn't meant to be. Whether purposely or unintentionally--things happen. The the next time we meet someone that we may actually like we don't pursue it because we remember what happened the last time....just like with the dominoes. We don't want to put in the time and effort out of fear that it will all be in vain. Because really....who wants to waste their precious time??
We have to stop looking at the box sitting on the table and start to build again...just like with the dominoes ;)
