The Power of Names

I have often wondered about the Power of the Names that we hear over and over in our lives. I have even more reason to wonder after last night.

First, a little background. I will tell you my stories about certain names, but I do not wish to imply that you should draw the same conclusions about people with these names. It probably varies from person to person.

My first, most successful relationship was with a man named Steve. We lived together for two years and moved from Texas to Florida and then Baton Rouge together, pursuing our higher education. I also had a major crush on a Steve when I was in High School. He was 8 years older and moving to California, and I went to visit him after I graduated. Since then, it seemed like I continued to run into men named Steve who wanted to date me. However, they never seemed to be the best men for me.

On the other hand, I had bad situations with men and women named Chris. I don't want to go into the stories except to say that the two times I feared for my life were due to a crazy guy and a stalker who were both named Chris.

Then came the Mikes and Michaels. Last year, I married my husband who is named Mike. Last Christmas, I get a job offer at a party to teach at the local university, so I work for someone named Mike. The man who interviewed me to usher at the UT PAC was named Mike. Another house manager named Mike at the UT PAC gave me a guide to e-books that really helped me out. In the past few months I have made two new male friends named Michael.

As you might guess, it can get confusing. Yesterday, I was calling one of my friends early on my cell phone, and a different Mike answered than the one I had intended to call! Yikes! I hoped I hadn't woken him up, so I quickly hung up.

What does this mean when names repeat in our lives live this? It must be the universe trying to get our attention about something, right? There is obviously a pattern that we have discovered or are creating. I asked the Mike at the UT PAC about this last month and whether men named Mike were all good men. He said yes, and that it is because they are all named after the Archangel.

My mother likes to remind me about my crush on the boy next door when I was in Kindergarten and that I kept talking about his "pretty, blue eyes." His name was Mike (and his brother's name was Chris.) Do you think this early experience imprinted on me somehow to produce the experiences described above?

I had to write about this because it happened again last night. At the last minute, I invited 24 female friends out for a Girls' Night Out dancing to LeeAnn Atherton singing the blues. The only two who showed up were both named Linda. This served to remind me about a dear friend of mine named Linda who had moved away from Austin to Ohio to take care of her aging parents. I realized that I had not called her in months, and that I really missed her.

Was the universe taking a moment to remind me to call my friend?

Does this happen to you? If so, how do you interpret this? Is there a Power in the names that are significant in our lives? Do the interpretations vary from person to person, or do you think that all men named Mike are good men?

Thanks for reading and responding, and remember to Choose Power.

~Pammyla
Author of "Choose Power"
www.Pammyla.com