I get this email newsletter daily called the Daily Om. It offers thoughts for meditation and contemplation.  It’s wonderful and I enjoy receiving it. And it has an uncanny ability to address issues that are surprisingly relevant to my life. It’s as though someone is watching my life and says “she needs to hear this today.”

I got one yesterday that really hit a chord with me so I want to write about it. I just wanted to give this little disclaimer first as I cant imagine that this will be the last Daily Om that I’ll mention.

November 17, 2008
Beings of Light
Human Angels

During each of our journeys, there are those inevitable moments when someone comes into our life at precisely the right time and says or does precisely the right thing. Their words or actions may help us perceive ourselves more clearly, remind us that everything will turn out for the best, help us cope, or see us through difficult situations. These people are human angels – individuals designated by the universe to be of service to those in need at specific points in time. Some human angels make a commitment before their births to make a positive contribution to the world at a particular moment. Others were chosen by the universe. All human angels, however, come into our lives when we least expect them and when we can most benefit from their presence.

A few of the human angels we may encounter are in professions where helping others is an everyday occurrence. But most of them are regular people, going about their daily lives until called upon to be in the right place at the right time to bring peace, joy, help, or heal someone when they most need it. You may have met a human angel in the form of a teacher who gave you a piece of advice that touched your soul and influenced your path. The person that momentarily stopped you to say hello on the street, delaying you long enough to avoid an oncoming car or a collision, is also a human angel. They may offer nothing more than a kind word or a smile, but they will offer it when you can draw the most strength and support from their simple action.

You may be a human angel yet not know it. Your fate or intuition may guide you toward other people’s challenging or distressing situations, leading you to infer that you simply have bad luck. But recognizing yourself as a human angel can help you deal with the pain you see and understand that you are there to help and comfort others during their times of need. Human angels give of their inner light to all who need it, coming into our lives and often changing us forever. Their task has its challenges, but it is they that have the power to teach, bring us joy, and comfort us in times of despair.

I believe I have recently had the experience of one of these angels on earth. And as quickly as he appeared in my life, he is gone now. This wasn’t just a reassuring stranger on an elevator. We developed a friendship over a few months time. And it was an important few months during which I had a stroke, got married, and with his help rediscovered myself.

He made a comment about a picture of me that I have on MySpace. He wrote, “Granted, I know that pictures are documented moments from the past, but this picture also seems to offer a window into the true form of yourself. The playful side creeps out beyond the cautious side, and you are yet unhindered by the weight of life.”

That silly little sentence had me look at myself, who I had become since the accident, what walls I had built around me.

I think of what I do for a living as not telling people to do things differently but rather to help them explore different ways of seeing the world and themselves. I like to think that this is why my therapy is so effective. Yet at the same time, I am there for the clients. I don’t necessarily have someone who offers the same service to me. And in this friend I found that. I am grateful.

But as I said, as swiftly as he blew in to my life, the wind has picked him up again to carry him on to his next destination. I miss him. I miss my friend. But that sadness has not clouded my view of the impact his friendship has had on my life, on who I am. I am a different person than I was when he stumbled into my life. Some of me that I’d lost sight of was found again. I am better able to enjoy my life, my husband, myself.

I’d like to hope that my presence in his life had an equal impact, that I was an angel in his life as well. But I’ll never know. So I am content in hoping that I was. I am content with remembering my friend. I am content that my life has changed.

All because I met an angel on earth.