I have read this poem many times and it definitely resonates with me and the friendships that I have had in my life.

Reason, Season, or Lifetime

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 have come to assist you through a difficulty;
to provide you with guidance and support;
to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.

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.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
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 bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
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.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

— Unknown

With the emergence of social networks, Facebook in particular, I am starting to ponder its place in our lives, and if indeed it is such a great idea to get back in contact with people whom would not otherwise still be in our lives.

Are there people in our lives, via Facebook, that are having an influence on us that are not supposed to any longer, as our paths already parted ways some time ago?

Should we be letting everyone from our past back into our current lives without any thought on their impact on our current lives, or the impact they once had in our lives?

Is it simply an ego stroking exercise that we are engaging in platforms like Facebook to reconnect with people from our past, that can only end it tears?

Or is Facebook giving us a precious gift of connecting with friends who have once been in our lives for a reason or season to once again come into our lives for another reason, another season or perhaps this time a lifetime?

I would be interested to hear your thoughts, my mind is still pondering 🙂