Teachers, Learners, Keepers & Mirrors

A long, long time ago, I had a friend who taught me many valuable lessons, some of which I understood only later in life.

One of the things this friend taught me is that there are three types of people who come into our lives.

The first type is here to teach us a lesson. The second type is here so that we can teach them a lesson. And finally, the third type is here to stay.

Also, according to my friend, the beauty lies in not knowing who’s who, but let’s agree to disagree on that one.

With time, I realized there’s also a fourth type of people: the mirrors.

Some may say they fall under the category of teachers, but I assure you that is not the case. And since I feel a bit spiritual today, I’m gonna proceed with a spiritual metaphor.

These mirrors are like scattered fragments of our soul, glimpses of ourselves from either the past or the future. They trigger us in the most unimaginable ways, but they are not here to teach us; they are here to make us reflect on who we are, where we’ve come from, and where we’re going.

No matter how we treat them, we can never come to terms with them, because we were never meant to – they only exist within and opposed to us. They are like magnets, both repelling and attracting us, depending on which side they show us. And the moment we realize what it is in them that makes us feel the way we feel – they disappear.

And we can then move on, knowing how much we’ve grown, what we need to heal, and what we need to do in order to become a better, more accepting version of ourselves. Because once we stop reacting and start reflecting, mirrors turn from triggers into teachers.