Have you ever noticed some people seem to look
just like someone you know?

Sure. Doppelgangers.

Yeah, sort of.  Then there are other people that
feel like someone you know?

I always thought of them as “extras” in my life.
You know, God got lazy and just plopped down a few
of the same characters hoping I wouldn’t notice.

Or are they an opportunity to learn a missed lesson, repeated… or mirrored back.

I met a woman (as all good stories begin).  After a bit, I caught her out of the corner of my eye.  She seemed to glow with familiarity.  Of course, as is human nature, I begin to scan my past to figure out why she looks familiar.  I know.  It’s shocking to most, but I too, am human.

We wandered in and out of pleasant conversation throughout the evening.  Enjoyable… as if talking to an old friend.  Each moment, the sensation grew stronger.  The eye-rolls: familiar.  The smile: recognized.  Her soul’s impression: a replay.

As I wake the next morning, the hammer of recollection swings with my first teacher.  The smiles.  The facial expression.  The way she holds herself.  The tone… my first teacher.  Back again.  Amazing!   Within moments, an ex-lover’s deep gazes, feeling of warmth, and un-wordly connection to ground come back to me, too… in the form of the woman the night before.

While the conversation from the night before flows in and out of memory, it becomes very clear that this woman holds striking similarities to both a previous teacher and a previous lover.  Now, the important question: Why?  I can give you a list of things I learned from both the teacher and the lover, so why the re-occurrence?

Positioning

Those that don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

Are those people an attempt to teach you a missed lesson?  Or are they simply an extra; the mathematic limitation of DNA combinations?  It doesn’t matter, because they are both.  If you believe they are extras, worthy of a simple shrug, you are “condemned to repeat it“.

When you accept that this person represents an opportunity to connect, you can finally use the tired old line “You look familiar”.  How cool is that?  You will likely not look familiar to them as well.  Mirrors are one way.

Catching the reflection

Last week, we spoke about intuition. That “familiar” feeling is a type of intuition. Have you ever thought to yourself “I feel uncomfortable because that person looks familiar”? Of course you haven’t. It’s the universe saying “Pssst… they’re here for you.” You recognize the power and wonder of the world when you have sensations that are completely real, yet unexplainable. (←Tweet this)

When you notice someone that seems very familiar, the tendency is to try to figure out where you know them.  We try to figure out why they look familiar.  My question to you is this:  Does it matter?  Is the “why” they look familiar really going to determine whether or not you say something to them?  No.  It’s not.  It’s only going to get in the way.

Go say “Hello”.  Try this: “Hi.  My name is Stu.  You look very familiar.  I know that’s the cheesiest pickup line in the world and if I didn’t actually mean it, I would probably have laughed trying to say it.”  Feel free to use your own name. What’s the worst that can happen?

In fact, I’ll bet you’re reading this right now because something felt right about coming here. They aren’t just extras. They really are meant for you.