SUMMER
As summer comes to an end, I often think about the meaning of summer, the meaning of the seasons. There's something in the seasons which affects us, which influences our conduct, which governs our behavior. Winter sometimes induces melancholy, spring joy, autumn reflection. What about summer, how does it affect us?
Summer is often a restful time, a time for vacations, for outdoor activities, for meeting with friends, for renewal, for preparation for things to come. Somehow, the weather of summer makes us feel better, more relaxed, more open to activity. But sometimes we reach the end of summer with feelings of disappointment, with feelings that we "wasted" the summer, that we didn't do what we wanted to do, that opportunities were lost.
If summer gave us time, the opportunity for relaxation, for fun, for activity, and we didn't take the time, didn't relax or have fun, what should we do? If we didn't accomplish what we wanted, whether in summer or in any season, what should we do? First, we should learn from the past and see how we missed the opportunity, how we failed to meet our goals. Was it because we failed to plan, didn't see the opportunity, were indolent, shy, distracted? If we can identify the conduct which led to our failures, we can fix it. Was it because we made conscious choices to do something else? If so, we should accept our choices and not blame ourselves. Was it because we didn't set goals, were too relaxed? Again, we don't have to program every minute of our lives. Accept the refreshment of unplanned time, of idleness.
Second, we shouldn't punish ourselves for our past behavior. We must learn from our mistakes but we must not blame ourselves. Recrimination, self-flagellation, regrets can paralyze, lead to despair, defeat our efforts in the future. We have finite amounts of time and energy. Why waste them on blaming ourselves for our failures?
Finally, armed with the knowledge we have gained, we should look optimistically to the future. If we didn't accomplish our summer goals, we can meet them in autumn. Nothing in our lives is final. Failures of the past don't need to end our lives. We can succeed in new seasons, we can look forward to happiness even in the winter. Never give up. The past is prologue but not necessarily predictive.
9-4-00
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