A happier state of mind
“Retired picnic at Otford Lookout” by Alex Proimos, Sydney, Australia
CC-BY-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” — George Santayana
Here in the northern hemisphere, we are enjoying the colors of the foliage and the cooling weather. Meanwhile, our neighbors south of the equator are enjoying the end of winter and the return of warmth. Those who are fortunate enough to live near the equator probably will still sense seasonal changes, though not as closely tied to the changing weather. Almost everyone I know feels happy to enjoy the changing seasons as they paint variety into our landscape.
Having lived nearly six decades now, I believe Santayana’s words are true not only of the yearly calendar, but also the evolving seasons of life. It’s easy, of course, to be “hopelessly in love with spring,” that time of new beginnings and hope for bright days to come. In a youth-obsessed culture, that tendency is even more exaggerated. But just as I love fall the best of all seasons of the year, I find that the autumn of life has similar charms. I’m happy to be in the stage of life I’m in now, despite its often bittersweet flavor.
If you’re in the spring or summer of life, enjoy it! Remind yourself often that you will never be in exactly this same place again. I think one reason I have felt no regret in growing older is that I so totally relished the beauty of the years that have passed. Despite a life that has arguably had its full share of sorrows, I have almost always felt blessed just to be alive. I hope you can say the same.
For those of us in the fall or winter of life, may we take joy in every moment and treasure the storehouse of memories that we have gathered so far, living always in faith and anticipation of more blessings to come.
One year ago today:
This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: calendar, changes, faith, fall, gratitude, hope, joy, landscapes, life, maturity, retirement, seasons, spring, weather
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