Creatures of Habit
We are creatures of habit and the schedule. Most every day I drive to work using the same route. Every Saturday we have waffles. Every Sunday we go to church. We have celebrations to mark important events each year at the same time like Easter and Independence Day. Most of what we do in life we either schedule out or do with regular consistency.
My lifestyle is no different and I must constantly remind myself that things are not permanent. I am the kind of person who moves into a house, carefully considers where I want everything, and then leaves it until the time we move again (Amber is not this way so the furniture does move around :). When I moved into my office, I planned out where I wanted the desk and other things and it hasn't moved since - nor do I foresee it moving. So I struggle when things change and are not constant.
For everything there is a season...
Nothing is permanent. Nothing lasts forever. All things are for a season and there is a time, truly, for everything. Bad things will only last for a time - as will good things. The more I realize this the more I am able to cope with the changes that occur in my life. Right now, that means friendships. Even friendships are for a season. Does that mean we cannot have life-long friends? No, in fact I hope we are able to have life-long friends. But somehow even friendships change and (hopefully) mature over time.
Business
In business and strategic planning, we divide things between the short-term and the long-term. The definition changes based on what is being planned. For example, the short-term is sometimes defined as the length of time in which at least something is fixed (e.g. number of buildings the company owns). In the long-term, however, all things are variable (e.g. a company can purchase or sell buildings with time). Even in business, however, there is an understanding that things are only for a season. In the long-term everything can change. There are also business cycles: a business begins, grows, matures, and eventually will end. Even industries are said to be cyclical in nature.
Hold Loosely
In learning to cope with seasons in friendships (and other areas), I am learning I must hold loosely to what has been given me. This becomes more difficult with the things that generally last longer and that we tend to see as more permanent: a car, a house, a job, a friendship. If God should so desire for me to leave my house tomorrow, I must hold so loosely that I have no issues in giving it up. This is much easier said then done.
Some Things Have to Change
So here is the part that is anti-culture. Perhaps some of the practices we go through routinely are preventing us from living as though all things are seasonal - and that this is not our home. We make investments: monetarily and with time. And we schedule everything to death! So should we not plan for anything? No, that is not what I am suggesting. What I am suggesting, though, is we have allowed such methods to take over our lives.
… under heaven
Solomon makes us aware there is a season and a time for everything under heaven. So what will remain? Yep, love! We have this hope we hold to, this salvation that we wait to be completed, a God whose love for us is unchanging. This constant of God's unconditional love is the single greatest thing we can use to know when to plan, when to set things aside, and how to cope with uncertainty, change, and seasons.