3 tips for understanding the five seasons of life
There are many models for understanding the stages people go through in their lives. Here is one that is based on the five seasons – spring, summer, autumn, winter and then your second spring. The actual ages mentioned below are approximate, because they can vary for each person, but let’s explore these different seasons.
* Spring & summer.
Childhood is your first spring. The fields are green, the sky is blue and you can wander forever. Providing you are given encouragement, everyday is an adventure. You can discover the world, discover your talents and follow your dreams. Summer is a time for sitting in cafes and discussing how to change the world. Teenage years throb with idealism. Providing you receive guidance, you discover your vocation and pursue the path of giving what you can to the world.
* Autumn & summer.
Autumn is the time when you begin worrying about ‘security’. Perhaps idealism doesn’t work after all; perhaps you had better get a ‘proper job’. You look for a life-partner, forget your life-passion and begin saving for a life-pension. You get a mortgage, work hard and try to establish security. Providing you hit the company targets, you gain promotion and climb the corporate ladder - perhaps gathering more debts.
Winter arrives. Sitting in a traffic jam one day, you say: “I am successful, but I am not happy. What do I really want out of life? How can I do it straight away?” Failing to see an immediate answer, you numb yourself and gain another promotion. One day another wake-up call arrives. You hear about a school friend who has died. They were the same age as you. So you embark on the existential journey travelled by people over the years: “Who am I? What do I want to do? How can I do it? And when?”
Savvy people may stay in their job, but begin pursuing a parallel strategy. People develop - they don’t change. “Be who you are, only more so,” is the message. You learn how to channel your personality, rather than change your personality. Accepting your talents, you search for people who will pay for what you do best. You say ‘Yes,’ to spending time with positive people - but ‘No,’ to negative people. Winter is a tough, but it can also be beautiful. Here comes the sun.
* Second spring.
Choosing to live life, you embrace Neil Young’s words: “It is better to burn out, than it is to rust.” There is nothing more delightfully dangerous than a person in their second spring. You recapture your zest and feel alive. You do what you want, dress the way you want and spend time with the people you want. Life is for living and you enjoy every day. That doesn’t mean everything is rosy.
Sometimes you go through all five seasons in one day. But now you have perspective. Paradoxically, you have stronger control needs, but accept some things you can’t control. So you focus on ‘controlling the controllables’. You do good work in your ‘Garden’, whilst contributing toward building a better Globe. “Life is about finding yourself, accepting yourself and, finally, forgetting yourself,” we are told. You are here to serve. So it is time to plant more seeds of hope in your second spring. You may not see them blossom, but that doesn’t matter. Sometimes your flowers will grow tomorrow.
You can find many stories written by people who have built on their strengths in the book The Strengths Way. More details can be found at:
Childhood is your first spring. The fields are green, the sky is blue and you can wander forever. Providing you are given encouragement, everyday is an adventure. You can discover the world, discover your talents and follow your dreams. Summer is a time for sitting in cafes and discussing how to change the world. Teenage years throb with idealism. Providing you receive guidance, you discover your vocation and pursue the path of giving what you can to the world.
* Autumn & summer.
Autumn is the time when you begin worrying about ‘security’. Perhaps idealism doesn’t work after all; perhaps you had better get a ‘proper job’. You look for a life-partner, forget your life-passion and begin saving for a life-pension. You get a mortgage, work hard and try to establish security. Providing you hit the company targets, you gain promotion and climb the corporate ladder - perhaps gathering more debts.
Winter arrives. Sitting in a traffic jam one day, you say: “I am successful, but I am not happy. What do I really want out of life? How can I do it straight away?” Failing to see an immediate answer, you numb yourself and gain another promotion. One day another wake-up call arrives. You hear about a school friend who has died. They were the same age as you. So you embark on the existential journey travelled by people over the years: “Who am I? What do I want to do? How can I do it? And when?”
Savvy people may stay in their job, but begin pursuing a parallel strategy. People develop - they don’t change. “Be who you are, only more so,” is the message. You learn how to channel your personality, rather than change your personality. Accepting your talents, you search for people who will pay for what you do best. You say ‘Yes,’ to spending time with positive people - but ‘No,’ to negative people. Winter is a tough, but it can also be beautiful. Here comes the sun.
* Second spring.
Choosing to live life, you embrace Neil Young’s words: “It is better to burn out, than it is to rust.” There is nothing more delightfully dangerous than a person in their second spring. You recapture your zest and feel alive. You do what you want, dress the way you want and spend time with the people you want. Life is for living and you enjoy every day. That doesn’t mean everything is rosy.
Sometimes you go through all five seasons in one day. But now you have perspective. Paradoxically, you have stronger control needs, but accept some things you can’t control. So you focus on ‘controlling the controllables’. You do good work in your ‘Garden’, whilst contributing toward building a better Globe. “Life is about finding yourself, accepting yourself and, finally, forgetting yourself,” we are told. You are here to serve. So it is time to plant more seeds of hope in your second spring. You may not see them blossom, but that doesn’t matter. Sometimes your flowers will grow tomorrow.
You can find many stories written by people who have built on their strengths in the book The Strengths Way. More details can be found at:
posted by Mike Pegg at
07:17
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