The Poem That Changed My Life

Have you ever seen or heard something that impacted you so deeply that it forever altered how you view or interact with your world? This poem changed my life when I was in the darkest of times. By sharing it, I hope that it helps you as much as it did for me.

When I was young, I was teased and bullied for being different in one way, shape, or form. I clung to anyone who was kind enough not to be mean, and I was often devastated when they weren’t in my life anymore. It was especially difficult being an Army brat because we moved every few years and I, the sky, awkward child who didn’t seem to fit in anywhere, believed that I would never find friends.

To my fragile self, I worried that there was something wrong with me; that I might be unlovable and ugly. There were times when I really thought my super power was invisibility because it felt like no one noticed the good stuff – but they sure knew how to pick out the different stuff to make me feel less than. I built HUGE walls of protection around myself.

For the longest time I convinced myself that I didn’t need people; that I hated them. I would reject them all before they could reject me. But humans need connection. Eventually I found my core people. To date, I can count my TRUE friends on one hand. These are my forever people – my lifetime people.

This doesn’t discount associates, acquaintances and casual or social friends. The true friends I’m talking about are the people who remain in your life through the good and bad times. They’re the ones that may lose touch for a bit but with one phone call it’s like no time passed. They are family that you might not have been born in to but the family you choose.

I wish I could take credit for writing this Reason Season Lifetime poem but I’ve done an exhaustive search and have yet to find its author. My good friend, Christina, shared it with me back in the early 2000’s. I suspect it’s been around much longer than that and I hope it stays evergreen for future generations because the messaging is timeless.

Reason Season Lifetime

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.
When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.

When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly – or inwardly.
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 wrong doing 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 or out 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 it is now time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON,
it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.
They may 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; those things you must build upon
in order to have a solid emotional foundation.

Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people anyway; 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.
– Author Unknown

Life is too short to overthink it. That’s one of the things I used to do. After I read Reason Season Lifetime, my perception changed. I stopped feeling so terrible about the cycle of people who rotated out and began to focus on living life and enjoying the people in the here and now.

Reason Season Lifetime comforted me when I was getting divorced; when my children grew up and left the nest; when my father died, and when a lifetime friend moved on without animosity, explanation or excuses.

I always return to these wise words and have learned to accept nothing but the best in the now.