Friday, March 15, 2013

Seasonal Ebb and Flow

Isn't it interesting how the mood of our lives in our society seems to follow the ebb and flow of the seasons? We often are so consumed by just "doing our best" as we surf life from day-to-day that we are oblivious to the grand scheme of things that swirl about us making up the quilt of our lives. Life is punctuated by events that act like batons in a relay race as it keeps us in the race. Seasons, holiday dates, sporting schedules, new music, plays, movies or TV programs previewing, family milestones all energize us as me move in a fervor to immerse ourselves in the latest and greatest that has floated to the top. These are the things that make life worth living.

Think of what stands out head and shoulders above the mundane as you cast your mind backwards over what excited you during the past year. From "what are you doing New Years Eve" to the gifts that you juggled last Christmas, we are constantly driven by "the next big thing" on our agenda.

None of this was innate as our culture conditioned us to respond appropriately to what is expected of us in every social situation. Our elementary school days surrounded us with seasonal bulletin boards and a calendar built around holidays as they counted the quantity of days over the quality of the days. Secondary school upped the ante by adding in the mix of seasonal sports and getting a date for the next social dance to teach us how to behave in the right way at the right time. College days and the workplace added in the focus on the right career, right place to live, and how to raise a family in the right way. How long have we been "keeping up with the Joneses" in our struggle to keep the baton in play in our actual relay for life?

All of this sounds pre-packaged and industrialized when we feel like we have been pawns in a society that is centered on conditioning us to constantly behave in the appropriate way as we surf through the seasons of life. In real-time however, it is these ever-changing attention grabbers that instills in us a zest for life. Our money is spent on responding to the seasons in the right way, and it rewards us with good feelings as we sense that it has been a job well-done. Looking ahead to the "next big thing" is what keeps us driving ahead. the great by-product here is that this is the fuel that drives our economy, which in turn dives our jobs, which provides us with income to look to the next big thing and complete the circle. I'm sure you get the picture here. It is a case where the clinical actual is not what it seems, as ignoring the big picture and just living life is what gives us a smile and a glow.

If marching to the right beat and responding to the next big thing in the right way is the driving force of our economy and our very lives is it a good thing or bad? Our nation keeps rolling along as we strive to be fulfilled. We keep the baton in play, yet at times we wonder what would happen if we fumbled the hand off. Generation after generation pauses at times to lament the way things seem to be changing, yet society survives and we morph gently into another rendition of ourselves either through our work, our connections, and our family. Life happens all around us and we either embrace it and make the best of it, or we devour ourselves with resistance. What is your approach to the race? How do you handle the baton? Embrace the day, but do not lose site of the big picture as you are in charge of living your life to the fullest.

...and then there is reality television. Some things are just beyond explanation.