I met Shine in 2012 on a random weekday evening while I was on the way to class. We were both 27 and were coming out of a troubled time in our lives. Now, Shine and myself are both 31 and planning our wedding.

Most couples I know got married in their 20s or married their high school sweetheart so they’ve known their other halves for quite a significant period in their lives. They would’ve watched each other grow together (or separately). Shine and I got to know each other a little later. Sometimes, as I lay in bed, I can’t help but wonder, what if I had met Shine earlier in my life? How would things be like?

If I can choose to rewind the clock to a particular year, it would be 2010. This was the year my life was beginning to crumble. The year I had gone through my first operation and was given a terrible news on my 25th birthday. Little did I know then that this would’ve been the least of all my problems. What if I have met Shine then? Would it save me from a lot of trouble and heartbreak? Who was Shine back then? I did a little snooping and here’s what I found.

PS: OMG baby, every pic of you was drinking and clubbing. Tsk, tsk, now you’re facing the ‘after effects’, lol.

He was this person.

Cute as he was, I’m quite certain I wouldn’t have fallen for him then. I would’ve thought that he was a player, had a lot of girlfriends and I wasn’t one to compete with other women for a man. Besides, I was attached to a compulsively possessive person at that time so I wouldn’t have had the mental energy or guts to be with someone like Shine was back then. Or would I? Maybe if he smiled or pulled the same moves on me like he will two years later? Or would he even be attracted to me?

PS: This was a photo collage I did in 2012 before I shut down my previous Facebook account due to a stalking/hacking incident (ya la, I had a lot of issues). Photos prior to 2012 are almost non-existent now. So this one is one I really hold dear.

Even if he was, I doubt he would be ready to face the hell I will go through for the next two years. It just wasn’t the right time to meet.

Looking at his photos then, I can’t help but feel that at some point, we must’ve been in the same area but just didn’t meet face to face. We went to the same shopping centres and same clubs, he even have relatives who know mine and he went to the same school with my cousin.

PS: This was taken on Christmas 2015, last year.

In so many aspects, meeting Shine that day was by chance and fate. I could’ve still been in a abusive relationship. I could’ve not taken that train to class that evening. I could’ve chosen to ignore him. I would’ve not known him. I don’t know what my life would be like now if we didn’t cross paths that fateful evening. I guess we were meant to meet when we did, at the right time in both our lives.

So if you’re still single and wondering if your soulmate is out there, he/she could be going through something in his/her life at this very moment. You’ll meet him/her at some point later, when you least expect it, when God decides you’re both ready. Who knows, your soulmate might be just around the corner, buying groceries in the same supermarket or someone in your family may already him/her? Destiny works in miraculous ways.