Managing the Seasons of Life

We tend to measure our lives by time. We never have enough of it. We often run out of it. Sometimes we even feel that we have too much of it, and yet we always want more of it. We look for ways to manage our time and all too often we waste an awful lot of it. We strive to make the most of it; we even talk about it. We have even managed to compartmentalize time by fitting it in to minutes, hours, days, months, years, and even seasons.

Many of us have or have had jobs that tend to manage our time. As long as I was in education or the school setting (which was my whole life from the age of 5 years old to retirement), my time was regulated by the ringing of bells, lesson plans for class time, and the demands of other people such as administrators or teachers. There was always something satisfying about ending a semester or a year and knowing that that year was over, and a whole new one would soon begin. Then I had the summer to compress as much as I could into the time I had to get all my “home work” done. The house had to be cleaned in the month of June; July was more relaxed and in August I spent getting ready to go back to work.

When I retired, I found myself fighting an ongoing battle with time management. There were no more ringing bells. I have always had a strong work ethic both in work and at home. I knew my work responsibilities and my home responsibilities and I worked to “stay on track and do it all.” Retirement happened and suddenly, I was faced with hours of unstructured time and no idea how to manage them. While I had always imagined my retirement time relaxing, reading, and doing just what I wanted, the reality was that I was not programmed or deprogrammed enough to exist in that type of environment. If at the end of the day, I couldn’t look back and say that I had accomplished something or done something worthwhile, I was filled with anxiety. At the same time, I was not ready to enter the world of volunteerism. As a result of the anxiety I often failed to do anything at all and then I felt guilty. In other words, I wasn’t having much fun. Topping it off were the words and advice of people who had retired before I did, informing me that I would LOVE retirement. I was a little angry that it didn’t happen for me.

Over a period of time, I have finally begun to recognize that there is a bigger picture of our lives. I have learned that humans move from season to season just as nature does. However, we don’t have just four seasons; it is possible to experience many seasons of life depending on the path that a person takes. I don’t think that we are just young, middle aged, or old. I think that our seasons are determined by how our lives are defined at certain points. For example when we are young we could experience a season of learning in school settings. Our responsibility might be to attend school, learn all we can and at that time we began to develop the character and ethics of early adult hood.

Later we might have a season of establishing a family through marriage and children. There could be a season of being in the work place; a season for dealing with an extreme illness; a season for leaving the work place, a season for caring for aging parents and so on. Some of these seasons could even overlap and happen more than once. Of course some seasons of life are expected to occur in the young, the middle aged, or the old.

I believe that for us to live satisfying, productive, and happy lives it is really important to be able to recognize the season in which we exist and take steps to manage our lives in that season rather than allowing time to manage us. I know that Jim and I are in the season of “retirement.” Even as I say that, for lack of a better word, there is a line of thought that retirement is an artificial season because retirement in the strictest sense doesn’t or shouldn’t really happen. It is important at this time of life or in any season that we ask ourselves, “what do we still have to learn,” “how can we continue to be of service to society, our neighbors, our community, or our world. It is only as we look beyond ourselves that we find true contentment and happiness at any age.

It is just as important in managing the seasons of our lives to recognize that in order to take charge of managing the season rather than to fall victim to energy sapping activities that leave us no time for other important things, that we learn when to say “no” and when to say “yes.” Too often people become victimized because the word “no” is not in their vocabularies. Two simple questions can make a huge difference in taking control of managing a season of life. I had never encountered this amazing tool to help in decision making and I find the simplicity and straightforward common sense to be remarkable.

Question one is simply: “When you say “yes” what are you saying “no” to?”

Question two is simply: “When you say “no” what are you saying “yes” to?”


Both questions have ramifications that could impact the quality of your life so plan thoughtfully and carefully.

In a previous post on our blog ( Transitions: The Autumn of Our Lives) I explored the issue that aging is transitioning symbolically from one season to another and that at our age we are in the autumn of our lives. As it happens autumn is my favorite season and somehow to think of myself as being in the autumn (season) of my life is rather lovely. The world is beautiful with bright colors, crisp cool air, and an overwhelming feeling of all is right with world. Everything begins to wind down from the hustle and bustle of summer, and it is so nice to be able to find comfort in a sweater or a fire in the fireplace. It isn’t so cold that it is uncomfortable, but just right. That is the way I feel in my autumnal life. Life is “just right” and still satisfying, productive and even fun.

To manage and continue to enjoy this lovely season I try to follow certain guidelines:

I continue to ask what is expected of me in this season.

I continue to learn and to be active in service to my community through my church and
other activities.

I continue to plan according to my energy level. ( Not as young as I once was!)

I try to stay in touch with the rhythms of life and take time to relax and take care of myself through diet and exercise,


I ask the “yes” “no” questions before adding or deleting responsibilities or activities to my life.


By following these guidelines, I am relieved of guilt and a lot of anxiety because I can still be productive and useful within the parameters of life season. I can still relax and have fun without anxiety. I can even take time to sit under my trees with a good book and the cats snuggled nearby.

However, I still have one nagging question that tells me I still have work to do. The question is:


“How did we ever have TIME to work?”

At least I no longer feel the need to listen for the bell!