Not all relationships are meant to be forever, including soulmates, and accepting this fact is the first step to making the most of a soul crossing. As therapist Dennis Nguyen, LCSW, previously told mindbodygreen, there will be more opportunities for different connections with different people in the future. “Life will continue on, and there are plenty of opportunities to date [and] maybe even date this right person when the time is right. Even if this opportunity passes, there will be more,” he says. 

And according to both Nguyen and Richardson, rather than dwelling on the impermanence of this connection, focus instead on all it gave you. As Nguyen explains, “Maybe this person prompted you to take a serious look at where you’re going in life. That is valuable! The process may have been painful and potentially very necessary.”

What matters most in any soul connection is recognizing how the relationship altered who you are at a core level: what it taught you, what it healed in you, and why you cherished it so much. Know that just because the timing wasn’t right, there was still a reason for this person being in your life, even if only for a short while.

“You might think of this person fondly for the rest of your life or even consider them a spirit guide,” Richardson previously wrote for mindbodygreen, adding, “Soul crossings teach us not to judge the importance or depth of a soulmate by the length of the relationship.”