Many people come into our lives. Some stay with us for years. Others step into our presence for just a day, an hour or a brief moment.

Are the encounters in the supermarket, at the park, at church or working on the job merely coincidental happenings, or have they been put purposely into our lives by the same life force that created this living universe?

Relationships expert Sarah Regan’s article titled, “Why Everyone Comes Into Our Life For A Reason” says: “It becomes clear that we are meant to meet everyone who enters our life … every person has something to offer or teach us. And us, them. There is a deeper meaning to receive behind every person we meet so as long as we’re open to their lessons. Our external lives are a mirror of our internal world, so you can consider your encounters and relationships as a reflection of what you are attracting. And they’re all meant to be.”

Not everyone brings positive vibrations. There are some we let into our lives without knowing how toxic they will become, but they too carry a purpose. They offer us a choice. Become absorbed by their toxicity or prevent their poison from infecting us.

Harpers’ Bazaar writer Deenal Sampat writes: “We don’t meet anyone by chance. They are all part of cosmic connections. … We are all surrounded by a variety of people. Some that enter our lives are the source of peace and calm, yet others create a hurricane or even crush our soul. … There is always a specific reason for each meeting, whatever its nature. There are people who come into our lives and stay there, others who only make a slight appearance and some arrive, turning everything upside down in their wake.”

I think back to someone who stepped into my circle of life from out of nowhere and I didn’t know then that a 15-minute conversation with a guy from Georgia whose job was to hang from a helicopter cable while he repaired a 200-foot-high electric tower has stayed in my memory until this very day.

I was in awe of the danger of his job, but then he said despite the great deal of money he made, he had nothing left to live for. I asked why.

He said: “I was never home, always going around the country doing what I do, and then my wife left me for another man. Yes, I risk my life. Yes, I have money, but now I have nothing. I lost the only person I ever loved.”

In less than a half an hour, it became significantly clear to me how much love and friendship matter much more than the make of the car we drive, the size of the house we live in or how much money we have in the bank. I always believed that to be true, but the encounter I had with a total stranger that day reinforced my priorities. To him, I was just a stranger listening to his story. But at that moment, I think I was exactly what he needed.

I think about a man I met when he walked into Colonia High School where I taught when I was near the end of my career. In the flash of a 90 mph fastball, he was an ex pro baseball player, a motivational speaker and now, he’s a cherished friend.

Sampat believes that spiritual forces in the universe bring two people together in the most unlikely times. We find what begins as trivial talk with “how are yous” and an exchange about the weather somehow evolves into a powerful message that can remain in our minds for a lifetime.

He writes: “Chance encounters are never trivial. They are the subject of something greater and they all serve a lofty purpose. … Call it luck. Call it God, but no one can deny this cosmic dominance. The universe never ceases to surprise us … nothing happens by chance.”

When I recall the hundreds of people I have interviewed for stories for this newspaper, I realize how I have been enlightened in some way by them all.

World War II and Vietnam veterans, ventilated COVID-19 survivors, mothers who lost their children to vehicular accidents, reformed drug addicts, superior athletes, successful businessmen and women, book authors, filmmakers and artists have all affected the manner in which I live my life.

I have to wonder if these people who I have only spoken to once were just part of my job requirement or were put there to expand my limited understanding of my own being.

“We don’t meet anyone by accident,” Sampat says. “Our life journey and the people who become a part of it are manifestations of the energy we give out and what is surrounding us as our own reflection. This is the magnificent design of life.”

Whether a relationship lasts minutes or years, it conditions our human nature in both small and big ways. Even very young children who

we don’t know can impact our well-being. A little girl pushed by her mother sits in a grocery cart. She smiles at me and I take that as a spiritual validation from a child whose mind has yet to be influenced by the ways of the world. Her smile is a gesture of approval, an intuition that I will bring no fear to the closeness she is sharing with me.

This phenomenon of cosmic connections is like opening a Christmas present. What’s inside someone new I encounter will be what the universe believes I am supposed to unwrap. Perhaps you will become the next gift for me. Should we meet somewhere, I’ll think of whatever time we spend together as a purposeful “magnificent design of life.”

Email Rich Strack at richiesadie11@gmail.com