The Seasons of Life

“The year rotates through the seasons like a wheel of fortune. Being present in each one, possessing its bounty and taking its inconveniences in stride, means living to the fullest every day of the life you get.” —Victoria Moran

Life is lived in seasons, and I am slowly learning to appreciate and live fully in each season. Too much time spent reminiscing about what has passed, or waiting for what is to come is squandered time that doesn’t yield a positive outcome.

Can you imagine spending your summer moping around and wishing for winter, or spending the beauty of spring worrying about fall? Granted, brief moments of: “I can’t wait to go skiing” or “The beach next summer is going to be wonderful,” are normal but living in a season one isn’t in at the expense of where you are is a sad waste of time. Honestly, each season has its golden moments, and I’m learning to notice those moments as well as enjoy them.

This concept is always brought home to me after I spend time with family. Our children and their families live a world away from my husband and me. When we are with them there is always the reality that that moment is possibly the only time we have. When we get together again grand-children will have grown and our lives will have changed. We won’t be seeing them in a few days, next week, or next month. It may be months before we all are together again, and so I’m learning I don’t want to waste the time we do have, wishing for what hasn’t come or remembering what was.

Learning to live in the “here and now” of the season I’m in (and no fooling, I am still very much in the learning process) helps me live with a situation that sometimes can be slightly disheartening for me.

I would love to hear what you are learning about the “seasons” of your life? What have you found helpful for remaining focused and appreciative of the here and now?

Comments

Perfect Comfort Food - Pumpkin Apple Bread

A perfect comfort food, especially when spread with cream cheese, Pumpkin Apple Bread has become a tradition of mine every autumn – Enjoy! Pumpkin Apple Bread from Celebrate the Rain - Seattle Junior League 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking soda 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground nutmeg (can use freshly grated) 1 tsp ground cloves ¾ tsp salt ¼ tsp ground allspice 2 cups (16 ounces) pure pumpkin puree (I use fresh / steamed and pureed pumpkin – you may also use canned) 2 ¼ cup sugar 4 eggs, lightly beaten ¾ cup vegetable oil 1 large or 2 medium Granny Smith apples: peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch dices Cinnamon Sugar Topping 5 Tbs sugar 1 Tbs all-purpose flour 1 Tbs butter at room temperature 1 (heaping) tsp cinnamon For the topping – Combine sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon. Blend with fork to an even, crumbly texture. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9- by 5-inch loaf pans. Sift together the flour, baking s...

A Simple "Hello"

Not to start on a negative, but this is one of my pet peeves...people who send condolences or RSVPs, a written invitation or congratulations or any other such personal communications in an e-mail. I mean really, how sincere is it when the receiver knows that this is something you popped off on your iPhone while waiting at the dentist? As Alan Weiss points out in his Balancing Act Newsletter, “Texting ‘I feel 4 U’ is not the same, somehow, as writing four sentences of sympathy and support. We can all afford the ten minutes.” In this day of “instant” everything, have we forgotten how to pick up a pen and a piece of paper? Here’s an easy way to make sure this type of “never have time for” correspondence doesn’t happen to you. Purchase five cards or post cards. Purchase stamps. (These first two steps are honestly the hardest part of this!) Put your favorite music on, settle in and think of five people you love and “never” write because you “never” have the time. Possibly one of your five ...

Anniversaries

“If I could only turn back time to the place we left behind – I’d find you there...” Happy and sad—bitter and sweet… Birthdays and days of passing—weddings and funerals… Public festivities where extended friends abound—private retreats where only close friends, family or Time spent in solitary reflection, enough to fill one’s soul. This weekend is the anniversary of my mother’s passing 26 (short) years ago. When I think of all the things she’s missed: Her granddaughter’s growing up. Getting to know her two grandsons-in-law. Watching her two great-grandsons’ and one granddaughter's lives expand. Traveling around the world to see them and be a part of their lives. She is also missing: Tea with me and the adult conversations we would now be able to have; when she passed away, I was 32 and in the middle of caring for young children, raising horses and taking care of the farm. We could now sit, two women, expanding our relationship deeper and farther than ...

Windridge Reflections

Search This Blog