It has been suggested by some of my more enlightened friends that people are brought into our lives or put in our paths at certain times for very specific reasons. The people who possess certain gifts or virtues or who require the gifts and virtues that we ourselves possess, will somehow manifest themselves to us at the perfect time. I have been pondering this suggestion for a bit. While I’m not certain how or why it happens, there are particulars of which I am certain. 

As humans, we have some very basic needs. I’m not referring to basics like sustenance, shelter, water, air. The needs I refer to are more spiritual in nature. We need to be loved, though that’s one we like to  deny. We need to be heard, understood, believed.  We need to be needed. We need to contribute. We need to be seen through. We need to know that someone, somewhere, knows us better than we know ourselves and that we are our best selves when we are with them. AND, we need to know that in spite of all they know or understand about us, that we are still worthy of their friendship and loyalty. We don’t always deserve these things, but we most decidedly need them. 

There are those who come into our lives and we wonder why. Others cross our paths and we wonder how we ever accomplished anything before they came along. They make us better than we are without them. They tell us the truth and we do the same for them. We know them and understand them. We love them from the inside out. We connect on a deeper level than the superficial and acrimonious confines of society, which demands quantity over quality, blather over substance. 

Sometimes, they are people we know for years and this connection develops. We become comfortable with them over time, as we earn each other’s trust and respect. Others, we connect with instantly. And whether it takes a lifetime or a moment, we are forever changed. We are better than we were without them. Not only because we need them, but because they need us too. 

We can spend our entire lives looking and waiting to find these kindred spirits, but most often, if we are still, and open to the idea that we are worthy of them, they will be placed in our paths. We need only to be prepared and willing to become more than we are. 

Kindred, meaning “of similar nature” and Spirit referring to the essence or energy that inspires life. 

You will know them when you see them and you will be forever changed.