people coming and going

I was on the phone yesterday. We had been talking about people and how they come and go.

He said, people who stay are in the same orbit as you. The ones that don't stay for long are like the planets that pass by. I thought that was beautiful.

I had thought about it once like that. It was a guy who was telling me we were better off as friends.

I said, through the phone, I see how people come in and out of our lives in terms of seasons. They are here when you need them, and then leave when their season is over; sometimes they come back.

Soul Helpers.

This is one of my favorite ways to make sense of people who come and go and then maybe come back. I've always been terrible at trusting that people might stay around long term. It's because so many have left me without a reason I felt was valid. As if it was too easy for them to let go. Did they try? I’d get lost in the leaving and the why’s- the why not just stay? At least I was consumed with these thoughts until I made sense of the phrase soul helpers.

I now think there are people who take our hand, guide us, support us, or teach us (yes, sometimes the no fun kind of lesson too) then make their exist. They help your soul. Then leave.

They are seasonal soul helpers.

“People who make positive impacts on our lives are like strangers who smile at you as you pass them.”

This was the start to a conversation that resonated with me more than he will know.

I like to be the kind of person who makes the kind of impact that is like a stranger who smiles at me in passing. I never know how much I need a smile from them until they're doing so.

When I interact with people I try to be the smile for as long as possible, in hopes they carry it with them when I'm gone.

Other times, people show up in my life like the strangers that steal from you. They take what is not theirs and leave me wondering how they took what wasn't theirs.

Im noticing that I’m using I when I talk about being a smile in someone’s life and you when I talk about stealing. Apparently subconsciously I think I get hurt more than I inflict the hurt upon people. Clearly and boldly said, I’ve hurt people too. I’ve been the one to steal the life out of someone. Now, it was never intentional, I don’t have that kind of determination, but I know I’ve hurt.

People coming and going. Smiles and steals. Planets and orbit paths. Seasons. Soul helpers.

It’s about how you make peace with your experiences. I am someone who needs to add purpose and meaning to the things that happen to me. With great pondering, comes many words.