Did you ever stop and think about all of the relationships in your past that are not part of your present? What happens when you run into someone who was once important in your life but isn't anymore?
Maybe it is someone who was your best friend for a while and then something happened to end the friendship.
Maybe it is a former spouse or partner from a relationship that ended for reason or reasons long past.
Maybe it is someone you only knew because of an activity in which you or your children were involved. Although you may have had a lot in common at that time, your common link ended and you lost touch with one another.
There's an old poem by an unknown author about this subject. Here is part of that poem:
People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you will know what to do for each person.
When someone is in your life for a reason, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They come to assist you through a difficulty; to provide you with guidance and support; to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
Then without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.
Some people come into your life for a season, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.
Lifetime relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
If you are a parent of children who have been involved in many activities, you probably have a lot of season people in your past.
The parents you sat with at seemingly hundreds of sporting events, the parents you volunteered with at countless class parties, the next door neighbors you shared dinner with every week may all be in the season category.
When you run into one of these people later in life, it's usually a joyful reunion. You chat about the past and enjoy the memories. You walk away with a smile on your face.
Sadly, most of us have some reason people in our past. It can be painful when you run into one of those people. Often you stop and think about how life may have been different if that person had been a lifetime person instead.
Maybe it's the person you dated before you met your spouse. How would life have been different?
Maybe it's the person who was your best friend who hurt you by something she said or did. How would life have been different?
If you are divorced, maybe it's your former spouse, the person you planned to be with forever but then something happened. How would life have been different?
When you run into one of these people later in life, it can be awkward. You may act pleasant or avoid the person. When you part, you are often left thinking about the past but without the same sense of joy.
Those who are really lucky also have at least a few lifetime people in their lives. Maybe it's friends who moved far away and you don't see them every day. But when you get together, it's like they never left.
Maybe it's your siblings who live in another state who you only see once or twice a year but with whom you share so many special memories.
Maybe it's your spouse who you see every day but don't always appreciate or thank for the gift they are in your life.
Maybe it's your children, grown and moved out on their own. You see them now and then and you are always grateful for the joy and happiness that they have brought to your life.
If you are really, really lucky, maybe it's someone you see every day, someone you tell every day how much you care, and who appreciates the gift you are in their life.
Life is short and we don't always appreciate the lifetime people in our lives. Today, take the time to thank those people for the gifts they bring to your life.
And maybe take a minute or two to think about the others you've left behind and the path not traveled. How would life have been different?
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