Fireflies in the summer are a beautiful thing. Their light pulses erratically and seemingly with no real logic behind the glow. They are there one moment and gone the next. Their entrance signifies that summer has arrived. Perhaps you catch them and carefully put them in a jar in an attempt to hold on to their beauty but you know you have to let them go before nights end. Their absence signifies that the memories of warm summer nights, good friends and summer songs are but a fading memory and that the cold isolation of winter is about to begin.
People enter our lives much the same way as fireflies. They are there one moment and gone the next. Their entrance signifies a new hope that things will get better. You want to put them in a jar and hang on to them forever but you know you have to let them go. Their absence becomes akin to the cold isolation of winter. People are there one moment and gone the next and you ask yourself:
Were they appreciated while they were here?
Did I take advantage of what they had to offer?
Was there an appreciation for their tough love or was it resisted?
Did I appreciate their desire to see me succeed or did I not trust them to have my best interest at heart?
Was the structure they brought to my life valued?
Or, like so many, did I end up with regret when they were gone?
I believe that people come into our lives at a time when we need them most. They are drawn to us because there was something we needed to learn or gain from them. This is a reciprocal relationship because they have needs that we needed to fulfill too. When the purpose of the relationship has been served, they become a firefly in the night, there one moment and gone the next.
Usually, when people are in our lives the message they bring and the values they offered are blissfully ignored. Then one day when you least expect it you realize that you are where you are today because of what they gave you.
Unlike the fireflies, we never know when someone will leave. People leave our lives for many reasons: death, a new job or moving to a distant city. In the pain of the moment, we don’t allow ourselves to see that their purpose for being in our life was fulfilled. When it is finally seen, don’t tarnish the memory. Don’t let it fade into the forgotten and underappreciated life lessons that have been collected over the years. Honor that reason the best way it can be honored, give their teachings to someone else. Let those lessons continue to spread because if it keeps spreading, growing and living then they aren’t really gone.
Last updated on November 10th, 2018 at 07:44 pm
