Yesterday I met two new people. One is a woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer who had sent me a lovely note about something on my breast cancer blog. I also met another equally remarkable woman through more ordinary means.

I also recently have made the acquaintance of a mother and a daughter who used to live in Chester County. They are now spread far and wide, and I have met them because I had written about what was their family farm. And they so graciously have shared their memories with me so I could share them with you, my blog readers.

A couple of months ago I also met another person that I think I was destined to meet. It ended up once we got to talking that they actually lived on the periphery of a former life of mine. That is to say, we knew people in common, but never met at that point in time in either of our lives.

My friend Sherry is always saying things about opening yourself up to the universe and being positive, and the cool people you meet as a result. It took me a while to get the concept, but I actually think it’s true.

I think it is the Irish in my genealogy that makes me almost a little fey and makes me believe that people enter and leave your life for a reason. And I mean that in the most positive sense, not negative. The people I have met recently, I believe I was somehow supposed to meet. I don’t know why, it’s just a feeling.

I am also blessed in my life that I have this amazing core group of people I can call friends who have been in my life since I was a small child and a teenager. These people are all age ranges.

Truthfully I like having friends of all age ranges, it makes for a more rich life experience.

I noticed in myself a couple of years ago that I am a little more guarded than I used to be. I think life and circumstance make us all this way to an extent. It’s sad that we, as human beings get that way, but it happens. I guess we can file it away to that old adage about being older and wiser.

One of the last people I was more open and accepting of, ironically is now one of my cyber bullies. This person went from being the person who said I was like “the sister they could choose for themselves” to today, where they cyber bully me in a warped fatal attraction stalker-like style. I don’t regret getting to know this person, but I do feel sorry that they are so super deeply damaged and living such an empty life that existing to be mean and attempting to inflict pain keeps them going. They just can’t let go and can’t be anything other than negative.

The people you meet in life teach you things, good and bad. As I’ve gotten older I try to take the good and leave the bad on the curb. There are people whom you let go of, and people who let go of you. Sometimes these partings are very difficult, but in the bigger picture, you just weren’t destined to be in each others lives permanently. Some people are just gypsies in our lives, traveling through our lives for a while before they move on.

I have had three life events in the last decade which have taught me the true goodness of people. The first is when the ex factor left and people circled and supported me, the second was watching how people circled and supported my sister when she suddenly became a 43-year-old widow, and the third was when I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Ironically, these life events all happened within the span of a couple of years. I guess you never know how strong you can be, until that is one of your only options. But what resonates the most with these life events is the goodness of people and the love of friends and family.

People play different roles in your life. Some have a more permanent role, others are more transient. Guest stars and supporting roles, as it were. I think sometimes the reason people leave your life is that there’s almost this balancing act in the universe that causes your life to open up for new people.

I am often amused by the people who don’t know a person, yet feel free to judge. As a writer and a blogger I experience that every now and again. These people and their perception of dislike is not based on ever having had a conversation or in most cases having even met me, but instead their whole dislike is based on the fact that they just don’t like something I wrote. They can’t just put me in a category that they understand and are comfortable with. I’m not any particular type at all, and I freely admit I am a very independent thinker at times. What is the most amusing thing about people like this you encounter? For me it is they are so puffed up by their own self-importance that they don’t realize in the big picture they don’t matter. They also don’t fully comprehend that what they put out in the universe eventually comes back to them.

I have always been a bit of a people-watcher. Human beings are fascinating. And isn’t life like a bit of a puzzle? Different pieces fit different ways?

As I leave you for today, I want you to think about how it is you perceive new people? Are you instantly inherently suspicious, or do you try to meet them with an open mind?

I think life is much better as a flowing stream, versus a stagnant pond.

Thanks for stopping by!