Seasons in Life

Growing up in a tropical sunny island makes me a happy tropical gal. Hehe. I love the sun, sea and tropical food! Wahahaha. Living in Singapore is a blessing because she is an international port and we get seasonal food and fruits all year round.

Now that I’m in Japan, it’s common to hear this phrase, “This is the season to…”. You can fill in the blank with: eat this, do this, try this. At first, I wasn’t used to it. Now, I join the crowd of my Japanese friends and ask them what I should try now that autumn has arrived. HAha.

In Japan, it’s the season to play sports in October. This is also the season to eat nabe, which is like our yong tau foo and steamboat. Wahahah.. Pumpkins are sprouting everywhere, signifying autumn has arrived. Flowers of all kinds are blooming as well.

There is this particular road that I walk at least once a week, from my home to Kishi supermarket. When I first arrived here in February, the trees were bare. There was no sign of life since it was winter. Slowly, tulips bloomed and died in less than 2 weeks. Then, it was the pansies’ turn. They were so colourful, wearing pretty dresses of contrasting colours. They’re either in purple and yellow, or pink and yellow or purple and white, and so on.

In summer, this road was noisy because it was filled with symphonies played by different insects and bugs. I’d usually sprint to my destination because I didn’t appreciate their presence. Heheh..

Walking this road makes me learnt about life. Seasons come and go. Seasonal flowers bloom and die. Then new flowers for the next season will grow and bloom and die. This is a natural cycle, a natural process. They have no choice. The tulips cannot tell the pansies, “I’m sorry, pansies, I love to stay alive for another month. Can you wait till then to bloom so that I can live longer?” Whahaha…

Similarly, in life, we have seasons. Or, like what King Solomon told us philosophically in Eccelesiastes Chapter 3, there is a time for everything. What season am I living in now? A time of sowing or reaping or both? A season of mourning or a season of dancing? I think it doesn’t matter which season we are in. The important thing is to recognize the season we’re in and to live it to the fullest. No point reminiscing about the past seasons because it is over and a new season has arrived. Now is the season to do this and that, to try this new strategy or that.

When a new season is approaching, we have to let go of certain old things of the previous season. For example, I now need to keep my thin summer clothes and starting buying new autumn and winter clothes. As much as I like certain blouses or fruits or food, I just can’t wear or eat them anymore because summer has departed.

Let’s ask God which season we are in now and live life to the fullest, glorifying His name in all that we do.