The 4 Seasons of Life

I came across this story recently which describes the seasons of life really well.

“There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn to not judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the autumn.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

They all saw different things

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no – it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfilment.

We all have different seasons in life

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but one season in the tree’s life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are – and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life – can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfilment of your autumn.

Don’t judge a life by one difficult season. Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.”

We all go through tough times

In life we will experience many positive things and many negative things. I believe that we learn much more from negative experiences than we do from positive ones. We enjoy the positive times and learn from the negative times.

The only time we grow in character and comfort zone is when we are under pressure. I have mentioned several times how I couldn’t speak in front of two or three people without becoming a nervous wreck.

I pushed through my winter season

Then the time came when I had to speak in front of 10 then 50 then 100 and each time I was apprehensive and nervous, but I went through it and came out the other side a different person. Each time I pushed through the fear barrier, my comfort zone grew and so did I.

Now I speak in front of many 100’s and enjoy it. Embracing the tough times is something I highly recommend. It’s not pleasant but if you push through believing that you can make it, then you will see amazing growth take place.

Change your belief system and things will change

Don’t be held back by your belief system which may be telling you that you can’t do it, or you will fail. This belief system is created during your lifetime and is like a rudder steering a ship. Your belief system determines how far you go in life.

Thoughts for the week.

1. How do you view tough winter times in your life?
2. Do you give up or do you push through knowing that good times are ahead?
3. Embrace these tough times knowing that you are growing through the process.
4. Soon the spring will come then the summer and finally the wonderful autumn.

Well that’s it for this week have a great weekend and stay positive.

Warm regards

John

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