I recently lost a deep friendship. We're talking years in the making, through thick and thin, saw no end in sight kind of friendship. I won't go into the details about how it ended but it wasn't pleasant, and those details don't really matter. What matters is that it was the deepest friendship I've ever had.
I always say that if you can look back in life and find your AHA moments. The times when you really learned something profound about life. If you look closely, you will find that they are located next to pain. You will find a painful experience somewhere near that profound something.
It's true.
This recent one has taught me something. People say, "All good things must come to an end." Usually this is something we jokingly say at the end of having a good time. Yet there's a hint at something so deep and true. It's so simple and obvious that we often take it's depth for granted. But yeah... I think that the deep insight is this:
Everything has a season.
The good and the bad are seasonal. You love someone and spend your life with them? Eventually, they die. You are going through a difficult time and feel like it's never going to get better? It will. It's almost as if it's so universally inevitable. You can't name a kingdom that's dominated and ruled forever. You can't name a TV Show that never had a final episode, and you can find amazing shows that you wish never ended. And you can find shows you wish never aired, and yet those don't last either.
Food doesn't keep indefinitely. That teenage metabolism falls off at some point (trust me on this one). And that weight you can't seem to lose. Well, you can lose it when you conquer what's causing it.
My kids amaze me. But the one that changed my life when she was born, now looks more and more like a young lady every day. There's nothing that's made this more obvious than watching them go through their seasons. They can't speak or walk or feed themselves. Then they can. They can't talk. Then they don't stop. - (haha) -
Life has its seasons.
Everything has a season. From the smallest things like food, on up to the other things like friendships, careers, and life. And it's really made me think a lot about enjoying things while they can be enjoyed, and enduring the things that are painful and difficult because all are truly temporary.
So, if you're going through something, endure it. Hang in there. No matter what it is, it too has a season.
If you're loving something beautiful and fulfilling. Enjoy it. No matter how easy it becomes, do not take it for granted. This also has a season.
