Like the earth goes through the 4 seasons – spring, summer, autumn, and winter – we as human beings, go through the 4 seasons of life too. But too bad, many people ignore the seasons that they’re going through in each stage of their lives, until one day, when they realize it, they are already in the winter season, which is a little bit too late to make a change.
Many years ago, when I was just a kid, I learned about the fable of the ant and the grasshopper. At that time, it was just an ordinary story that adults used to tell their kids.
But little did I know that this story has a lot of golden lessons and can serve as a great inspiration for me in life as an adult.
Whether you have heard about the story of it or not, here’s a short version to get you started. Trust me, this story is very interesting and when you relate it to your life, you will completely change the way you look at life.
The Story of Ant and Grasshopper
It was a nice day in the spring season. The flowers were blooming, and the weather is nice. A grasshopper was singing on the tree because it was such a nice and beautiful day. The grasshopper wanted to enjoy because the weather is nice.
And below the trees, there was an ant passed by. The ant carried a huge seed in order to store it for the winter. As in real life, the ant was hardworking and was always looking for food.
And then the spring season was over and came summer. On the summer day, the weather was hot. So, the grasshopper was lying and relaxing from the heat under the shade.
But, yet again, the ant was seen dragging foods back to its home to prepare for the winter. The grasshopper laughed at ant because to the grasshopper, there was plenty of food and there was no need to prepare for any.
After the summer is gone, came the autumn. The weather has turned and became colder. The grasshopper started to notice the change in the weather, and he started to work to collect foods for the winter.
As for the ant, he just kept working and carrying loads of food to prepare for the winter.
Eventually, the winter came. It was too late for the grasshopper. He didn’t manage to collect and store enough food for the winter. The grasshopper was starving and started to look for help.
The grasshopper then found the ant’s house. He begged the ant for food. And being a kind ant, the ant invited the grasshopper in and shared the food with the grasshopper.
The Seasons of Life
Now you know the story of the ant and the grasshopper. Try to reflect it on your life.
Let me ask you this question, how many seasons will you go through in life? If you live up to age 70, perhaps, you will answer 280 seasons because you will experience 70 cycles.
But if you’re living in a tropical country like me in Malaysia, you may answer just one. This is because it is always summer here in Malaysia. It is always hot.
But the real answer is this: 4
Yes, all of us, no matter where you live and no matter who you are, we all go through the same 4 seasons, which is one complete cycle.
The Spring
The spring season is when you’re still a student studying in schools. You’re age twenty or twenty plus. Everything seems to be nice to you. The weather is good. You don’t have to worry too much about getting a job because you’re still a full-time student.
You don’t have to think about your salary, dealing with your career, paying the bills, politics in the office, or what kind of business you want to start.
You’re a student, hence, you enjoy your time as a student.
I still remember my days at university. I enjoyed a lot. I went for sports 6 days out of 7, and I played a lot of computer games back then. It was nice.
The Summer
After your graduation, you move to the next season – summer. This is where your age is around 30 to 40. Everyone is talking about building careers and business. Everyone wants to earn money and live a successful life.
And these days are the hottest. You’re full of energy because you’re hot with your dreams, goals, careers, and business you want to start.
Whenever you see your friends change a new and a more expensive car, you admire them, and you wanted one too. When you see your friends getting married and you wanted to get yourself a soulmate as well.
This is the summer, where everything is going fast and hot. And if you’re building a business or climbing the corporate ladder, work as hard as you can because these are the best days to strive for the success you want in life.
The Autumn
Once the summer is over, comes the autumn. This is where your age is around 40 to 50. You started to feel a little cold and your desire started to fade.
You don’t seem to have as much drive and motivation as when you’re in the summer. Somehow, if you didn’t make it in the summer, autumn is the last season to work hard before winter arrives.
At the age of 40 or 50, you probably already have your own family. You have children to take care and you have commitments you need to keep.
Remember, autumn is the last season for you to achieve whatever goals you want before you get to the winter.
The Winter
Finally, winter arrives. This is where you’re age around 50 to 60. At this age, you don’t have the motivation and the drive to strive for success anymore. You worry more about your health than accumulating wealth.
And if you’re still not achieving any significant results in the winter, it will be even more difficult and challenging to do so now.
Now, I’m not saying that you can’t achieve great success during the winter season, just that things will be more difficult. Just imagine that you’ll have to compete with people half your age, have more drive than you, and have less commitment than you.
Do Not Waste Your Life
There is a very inspiring quote I want to share with you from Bruce Lee:
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made of.”
No matter your age, if you have a dream, work on it. If you have goals, work on them. Never let your time passed by doing nothing because you can never turn back time.
When you’re in the spring season, prepare yourself for the summer. Get clear with your goals and objectives in life. Map out the kind of life you want to live and what are the goals you want to achieve.
When you’re in the summer season, work as hard as possible. This is your golden time to strive for the success you desire. Don’t wait for things to happen. Instead, choose to be proactive and make things happen.
When you’re in the autumn season, you may fee a little tired with all these ‘success’ things. But remember, if you’re not ‘there’ yet, this is your final moment before winter comes. Hence, work hard and do your best to realize your vision.
When you’re in the winter season, it’s going to be cold and you may not even want to talk about building successful businesses or creating the career of your dream anymore. If you still want to achieve success in the winter, this is where you have to leverage your resources to build the life you desire before you retire.
It is Never Too Early and It Is Never Too Late
No matter what season of life you’re in, be it summer or autumn, you have to understand that it is never too early to do what you want to do and it is never too late to do it too.
Success is not a matter of age. While it is true that you will have advantages and disadvantages with your age, but your age is not the main factor that determines the success you want.
What truly matters is your mindset. As long as you don’t look at yourself as too young or too young, then, you’re not.
More important, make good use of the 4 seasons of your life. I believe that each season has its own strengths and weaknesses. You just need to leverage the strengths and learn to cope with the weaknesses.
No matter who you are and what season you’re in, believe that you can achieve the success you want. Now, don’t just think about it, work on it. Take action today.