This Too Shall Pass Away

Have you ever noticed how people seem to drift in and out of your life?

I'm sure it isn't planned. But people's lives take twists and turns and soon we can find ourselves with a whole new set of friends than we once had.

Some visits in our lives are exactly that, just visits. We interact for a brief time and then the person is on their way to wherever their life leads them. I believe they come to help me learn a lesson. Only they could get the point across. And then as quickly as they appeared... poooof!... they are gone.

Others come and stay our whole lives. Those few are rare indeed. Those people are the support we need in bad times and the laughter that spurs us on in the good ones. They are our rocks.

Remember the Pet Rock? It was a novel idea and millions were sold. Simple decorated rocks. It was amazing that people would buy them. Perhaps inside themselves they saw a need for a rock in their lives. Maybe they felt the yearning that only true friendship or kinship can provide.

I'd like to think that those who pass quickly through our lives are like pebbles. Yes the larger rocks form a good foundation, but the gravel is the fill we need to cement the character we find in our lessons.

Are you a rock? Or are you filler? It makes no difference really. For each life we touch or that touches us matters. It can be brief or lasting. They all have their value. Embrace those in your life. Tell them what they mean to you. All too soon this too shall pass.