Do you believe in a soul mate?
Everything happens for a reason...people come in to our lives for a reason, even if it takes a minute to realize what that reason is. I really believe that...I need to believe that to make sense of some things and some chance encounters I have come across in my life.
People always speak about a soul mate like it is the most romantic and love everlasting thing in the world. I beg to differ...in the book Eat, Pray, Love (which clearly left an impression on me because I quote it often) the term soul mate is discussed and described like this:
"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants! But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you will ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave."
I didn't really grasp what they meant and what they were describing when I read this originally, but since that time I think I do. I would actually argue a person could then have more than one soul mate. I think I have recently come face to face with at least one of my soul mates. With each encounter I have found myself staring into the face of a person that possesses little pieces of myself...all of the little pieces I choose to ignore or push aside. The pieces that make me uncomfortable. Recently I have had some walls torn down and been smacked awake. It is those people that you find yourself drawn too, those weird encounters that continue to happen over time and you wonder why in the world you keep running in to that person?!?! It is that weird feeling you get when you talk to that person, or see that person, or even think about that person...it is that honest, raw connection.
They can teach you something good about yourself or something bad...either way they come in to your life and at some point you realize they have taught you a lesson. You don't always become super close with these people.
It can be the lady you meet at the grocery store who you suddenly find yourself in deep conversation with about how she just beat cancer, and suddenly she has taught you a life lesson...no matter how big your battle seems, it could always be worse.
It could be that friend you thought you were close with that suddenly turns on you...lesson learned: cherish the dear friends you have because they are precious.
It could be that guy you met and you thought was perfect for you and then the more you run into him, or hang out with him, or talk to him you realize his fear of a relationship is so real it will probably never work out for the two of you...lesson learned: you have that same fear but it takes seeing it in someone else to make you realize how paralyzing and sad that fear is...so much so, you don't ever want that fear to stop you from anything!
It could be so many things and so few things...it could be a soul mate or it could be just a chance encounter with a person. Either way, there are people out there that we connect with on a different level, and if you don't listen to yourself and take in these experiences you may never learn the important lessons that are waiting to smack you awake!
People always speak about a soul mate like it is the most romantic and love everlasting thing in the world. I beg to differ...in the book Eat, Pray, Love (which clearly left an impression on me because I quote it often) the term soul mate is discussed and described like this:
"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants! But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you will ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave."
I didn't really grasp what they meant and what they were describing when I read this originally, but since that time I think I do. I would actually argue a person could then have more than one soul mate. I think I have recently come face to face with at least one of my soul mates. With each encounter I have found myself staring into the face of a person that possesses little pieces of myself...all of the little pieces I choose to ignore or push aside. The pieces that make me uncomfortable. Recently I have had some walls torn down and been smacked awake. It is those people that you find yourself drawn too, those weird encounters that continue to happen over time and you wonder why in the world you keep running in to that person?!?! It is that weird feeling you get when you talk to that person, or see that person, or even think about that person...it is that honest, raw connection.
They can teach you something good about yourself or something bad...either way they come in to your life and at some point you realize they have taught you a lesson. You don't always become super close with these people.
It can be the lady you meet at the grocery store who you suddenly find yourself in deep conversation with about how she just beat cancer, and suddenly she has taught you a life lesson...no matter how big your battle seems, it could always be worse.
It could be that friend you thought you were close with that suddenly turns on you...lesson learned: cherish the dear friends you have because they are precious.
It could be that guy you met and you thought was perfect for you and then the more you run into him, or hang out with him, or talk to him you realize his fear of a relationship is so real it will probably never work out for the two of you...lesson learned: you have that same fear but it takes seeing it in someone else to make you realize how paralyzing and sad that fear is...so much so, you don't ever want that fear to stop you from anything!
It could be so many things and so few things...it could be a soul mate or it could be just a chance encounter with a person. Either way, there are people out there that we connect with on a different level, and if you don't listen to yourself and take in these experiences you may never learn the important lessons that are waiting to smack you awake!