Looking Back While Looking Forward...

I saw this quote in a TikTok the other day, and it really stuck with me:

“Nothing is a coincidence. Every person you meet is written in your destiny - either to teach you, to heal you, or to love you.”

So I looked it up and found this graphic, which gave a little more detail. What an incredible thought. And what a beautiful way to move through life. Almost like a way to retrain your thinking when it comes to relationships of all kinds, timing, and even loss.

I’ve always believed this wholeheartedly. I think the people who come into our lives are there for a reason. There are no accidents. Some people stay forever, some only walk beside us for a season, but every one of them leaves something behind.

And when people circle back into your life - whether it’s five, ten, or twenty years later - it feels like proof that they were always meant to be part of your story. And if they don’t come back? Maybe the chapter you shared was exactly what both of you needed at that moment in time.

This week, I got to have lunch with two amazing college friends. We hadn’t seen each other in over twenty years, so there was no shortage of stories, memories, and catching up to do. And somehow, after all that time, the conversation still felt easy.

It made me realize how often we lose people because of fear. Fear of what they think of us. Fear of being fully ourselves. I know I spend far too much time worrying about what people think. But this lunch reminded me that we are usually far harder on ourselves than anyone else ever is.

It also reminded me how incredible people can be - even after years apart.

We took a few photos, but they aren’t social media people, and I respect that. But I know they’re reading this, and I just want to say how grateful I am that life brought us back around to each other again.

Here’s to opening our hearts a little wider. To reconnecting. To letting people in. And to living this life as fully as we can while we’re here.