Chinese proverb says: “You’ll meet people who are thousands of miles away if it’s meant to be, otherwise...”

You will meet thousands of people in your life, but you will develop deep, meaningful friendships with only a handful or two. Furthermore, where these lifelong friends come from is not necessarily determined by their physical proximity to you.

According to an ancient Chinese proverb, “you will meet people who are thousands of miles away if it’s meant to be; otherwise, you may never truly meet, even if you live next door.”

Fate’s hand in friendships

Despite the vast distances that may separate us, the world is becoming an ever smaller place with improvements in communication systems and expanded opportunities to travel, including to locations that were once unreachable. This has allowed us to meet even more people we would have never had the opportunity to know.

Like us, this was also the case for our ancestors thousands of years ago. While they might not have had the opportunities we have today, many of them ventured out into the world to explore, trade, or go on pilgrimages.

The chance encounters they had and we have, if the stars align, can end up turning into lasting friendships. The concept behind the above mentioned Chinese proverb about meeting people far outside our daily orbit is ‘yuan’, a type of destiny or fate, meaning “meant to meet.”

We may cross paths with people on a regular basis, but we never get to know them, truly. But those we were meant to meet, cross our path just at the right time, in the right place.

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