Of changing seasons and challenges in life; The seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter also reflect the seasons of life

Updated: Sunday August 11, 2013 MYT 7:18:12 AM

Of changing seasons and challenges in life

BY SOO EWE JIN

The seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter also reflect the seasons of life.

I FIND it quite amusing when department stores here have spring or winter sales. Having just come back from Sydney where winter sales are common as the season comes to an end, I do wonder how we can relate to such seasonal sales when it is hot and wet the whole year through. But weather aside, all of us do go through the seasons of life. And I have been thinking much about this lately. I am reminded that I have passed the halftime stage of life. And as I head into the second half, it is important that I rejuvenate body, mind and soul to take on the challenges that will come my way. The seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter also reflect the seasons of life.If you watch nature documentaries such as those hosted by David Attenborough, you will get a fantastic sweep of how life evolves through these seasons.

When I bravely ventured into the heart of Europe in my youth for a backpacking experience, I deliberately chose winter. The tickets were cheaper and accommodation in the youth hostels was always guaranteed. More important for me was that I wanted to see snow for the first time in my life.

Winter is often drab in that part of the world. There is an air of gloom as the days are short and the temperatures low. For an equatorial kid like me, it was a challenge. Winter reminds me of the tough times we go through in life.

No one is immune from trials and tribulations. But, just as the seasons come and go, all things will surely pass.

After a bleak winter, spring returns. It is a season of new beginnings, much like our first job or our first serious relationship. In spring we run the race of life with wild abandon, often defying our own limits. I remember on my first job I thought I could tackle anything, until an older colleague reminded me to be more circumspect lest I became too big for my shoes.

And what about summer? Well, it is a “perpetual summer” in Malaysia and I suppose for that reason we lose a sense of the passage of time. Summer symbolises the peak of one’s life but instead of counting our blessings, we often take things for granted. And so, instead of investing in important things like friendships and loved ones, we put them aside and do what is most urgent.

Autumn is a beautiful season. As a recipient of a press fellowship many years ago, I was sent to the quaint town of Brattleboro, Vermont in the United States, on attachment with the local newspaper there.

Vermont in the fall is absolutely heaven on earth. The changing colours of the leaves are breathtaking.

The autumn in our life should not just be seen as a prelude to the twilight years of winter. Rather it is a stage of life where there is so much to do and savour.

What season of life are you at now? Are you prepared for the seasons to come? Or are you still clinging on to seasons past? I am reminded to seize the moment and live in the present, and to live out each season well.

> Soo Ewe Jin braces for a new season as he and his better half enter the season of an empty nest, for a while at least