Welcome to A Season, A Reason, A Lifetime!

Thanks for popping in…

A Season, A Reason, A Lifetime is a forum to share some ideas about our relationships with people, places, and things. I will be sharing my thoughts, feelings, and ideas about these relationships.

When the subject of “relationships” comes up, most people think of the relationships that they have with other people – with a spouse, child, parent, relative, lover, friend, associate, stranger, etc. When I speak of relationships, I am referring to all logical or causal connections, or associations, and connections we have to, not only other people, but also the things we have in our lives, as well as the places that we occupy in the physical world.

It occurred to me one day, when I was particularly morose about the end of an important friendship, that there are vast differences in types and kinds of relationships. I felt empty about the friendship that had gone away until I realized that there is a “time and season” to all things. This particular friendship was a relationship that lasted a “Season” (it began when I was in college in Providence, Rhode Island) with a “Reason” (we worshiped at the same church and were both away from “home” and somewhat lonely) but had no chance of lasting a “Lifetime” (as we both moved away and on to new and very different adventures).

Once I understood that I had been thinking wrongly about this particular relationship, I wondered how many other people, places, and things in my life I was reacting to poorly… and how much pain it had been causing me. After much reflection, I discovered many areas that required attention.

I began to think of all my relationships in terms of A Season, A Reason, and A Lifetime.

Relationships that last “A Season” are relationships we have with people, places, and things that are “fleeting.” These relationships include the connection we have with a comfortable pair of shoes, the association we have with the clerk at the local Mini Mart where we buy our morning donut, or our current mode of transportation.

Some of our relationships are for “A Reason.” These relationships encompass our interaction with business associates, our local Post Office, or some type of instrument critical to our profession.

Very few relationships are for “A Lifetime.” These relationships are perhaps the most critical of all. They may or may not include a spouse but would certainly include a child. We definitely have a relationship with our bodies our entire life. We also have a relationship with our planet during our entire lifetime.

As you can see, many relationships could be included in several categories. This blog and my coming book – “A Season, A Reason, A Lifetime – Three Relationships That Matter” - discuss these connections and associations to help one think clearly about them. The book further covers these three categories in detail using the “8 Quest Categories” from my book, “Warming Trends – Designing Life’s Warm Memories, Today!” – to be released Summer of 2008. These categories are Spiritual Quests, Health Quests, Financial Quests, Enlightenment Quests, Relationship Quests, Professional Quests, Recreational Quests, and Temporal Quests.

If you would like to be notified when these books are available for purchase, just send your first name and email address and I’ll let you know.

This is my journey. If you find peace or comfort sharing it with me, please check back often.

You are free to make any comments about any posts, however, please be forewarned that I do not indulge in negativity. I will not allow any “potty-mouth” words or ignorant comments. There is enough of that in life and particularly on the internet. We don’t need any here.

If you are interested in relationships specific to Family Businesses, you might enjoy my Family Business Blog.

If you are interested in thinking better, understanding situations better, and improving yourself or your organization from the inside out, you might enjoy my main site – Offpoint, Inc. – where you can also link to my blog – The Offpoint Blog.

If you enjoy what you read, or find anything you feel of value, I would appreciate you sharing with your friends and family.

You will notice some links throughout the sites to Amazon and other affiliates. They will pay me a small commission if you link through from this site if you decide to purchase something that I’ve highlighted and found helpful. I would appreciate it.

On a personal note, it has been my experience that we will never find peace and happiness in our lives until we understand and accept the realities about all of the relationships in our lives. Once we do that, we will find more joy and harmony than ever thought possible.

Russ Bethers
January 22, 2008

All material COPYRIGHT© 2008, Russell R. Bethers, Offpoint, Inc., USA
You are free to link to this post, however, No part of this material in any form or portion may be used without the prior written permission of the author.