The Gift of the Remarkable People in Our Lives

Today, I’m not going to let another day go by without thanking whatever lucky stars or random events that took place to plant me in such a place at such a time when I had the remarkable chance to meet the exceptional people who make my life so rich. We don’t earn these relationship, so let’s celebrate our incredible good fortune and maybe send those friends a note today too to let them know what a true gift it is having them in our lives. 

I was reminded this week of a true gift individuals in our lives who pop up in seemingly just the right time to provide that tailored ray of sunshine that brings us hope and excitement for life. In my case, my serendipitous friend was someone who I’ve know for about a year now, which isn’t that much context, but I hope all of us have had the extraordinary experience of meeting people who seem to just fit. 

The beauty of having people like this in our lives is that there is no set formula or set of characteristics that make them so compatible. How could there be? They fit us in such a personally individual ways and we got them in a similar way though definitely because of our unique characteristics and not just because they are exactly like us. 

For me, curiosity, empathy, an interest in others, and a willingness to ask real questions and engage in real life experiences are what draw me into these kinds of friendships. When we have a good chunk of time to talk, I never know where all the conversation will go but without fail, the conversations are meaningful, they make me think, they energize me in a thrilling way, and they make me quite certain that we could never run out of things to talk about because every discovery and thought opens up new pathways to new topics and thoughts almost like growing new synapses and dendrites that connect to each other  in exciting ways. 

It’s so easy to let these kinds of relationships become second nature because they feel so natural that we have a hard time even conceptualizing not having them. Almost like our eye color. Can we imagine waking up one morning to discover that our eyes have shifted from green to deep brown? When we would look in the mirror that morning it would be a very jarring foreign experience that would take some serious getting used to. That’s the best way I can imagine losing these kinds of friends. 

Today, I’m not going to let another day go by without thanking whatever lucky stars or random events that took place to plant me in such a place at such a time when I had the remarkable chance to meet the exceptional people who make my life so rich. We don’t earn these relationship, so let’s celebrate our incredible good fortune and maybe send those friends a note today too to let them know what a true gift it is having them in our lives.