Permanence is an abstract concept of time. Most things in life aren’t permanent, e.g. “permanent” markers which are the root of numerous trust issues in this generation. Normally we don’t assign concepts in our daily lives with the preconceived notion that they are going to stay forever. We do not buy a car expecting it to be the only one we drive for the rest of our life. We do not buy one pen foreseeing it to last till the end of time. We do not expect the moon to stay fixed.
This world we live in constructs everything to be temporary. However time and time again, we are let down when another person in our life does not become permanent. This in-one-door-out-the-other concept is hard for many people to accept because we’d like to believe the best in ourselves and other people. It’s the idea that strangers who stumble into our lives will still stay because our company is satisfactory, and when they don’t stay it invalidates us. It’s almost ironic that they come as strangers and leave as strangers.
That one friend Becky you met at Chad’s kickback was super sweet; and, now you guys are going out to lunch. Three months later you’re still conversing; but, then she stopped talking to you, and all you have left is her jacket she left at your apartment. But you can’t tell her to come get it because you guys don’t talk anymore and it would just be weird at this point.
This cannot be reiterated enough, not everyone you meet in this lifetime is meant to stay. Life does not work that way. Realistically, people only stay in your life for either a super temporary time, such as a couple weeks or months, or a longer temporary time, such as several years. These temporary people become ghosts, and it sucks. Whether they leave by choice or by force, losing a relationship you have with either a friend or significant other is hard; and it doesn’t get easier each time either.
Remember, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Yes, someone’s presence in our life has left a perpetual impression, but their absence leaves eternal influence as well. Not all relationships you have assembled are meant to go to your grave. Temporary friendships are significant and necessary. We can learn and grow so much from them. Once people make peace with that, the concept of people leaving becomes a little easier to swallow.
It’s arguable that expired relationships can teach us more important lessons than the ones that stay.
I’ve met some incredible, incandescent people in my lifetime who I don’t talk to anymore. They are all phenomenal people who have divulged onto different paths. Of course, it’s sad not talking to people we were once closest with, but every individual can teach you an abundance of values that consciously or unconsciously shape you into the person you become, or will become.
How beautiful is it that each person we come across in our lifetime is fixed? Father time made it so that they were meant to meet us, leave and impression, and go about their merry way.
We can learn so much from the limited time we get with someone, it’s easy to get lost in the negatives that consume us, but it’s even easier to expand on the positives they have left us.