Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there. They serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or help you figure out who you are or who you want to become.

You never know who these people may be: roommate, neighbor, professor, friend, lover. Even a complete stranger who, when you lock eyes with them, you know in that very moment that they will affect your life in some profound way.

And sometimes things happen to you, and at the time they may seem horrible, painful, and unfair. But in reflection you realize that without overcoming those obstacles, you would have never realized your potential, strength, will power, or heart.

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good or bad luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere...safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.  The people you meet who affect your life, and the successes and downfalls you experience, create who you are. Even the bad experiences can be learned from. Those lessons are the hardest and probably the most important ones.

"People are like tea bags-you have to put them in hot water before you know how strong they are."