Seasonal

As the Pete Seager song says, to everything there is a season.  A time to be born, die, laugh, weep, dance, mourn, war, peace etc.
I am glad life is seasonal.  I get the impression that if life was all being born, human kind would have died out long ago.  If life was all mourning, I do not think I would be a fun person to be around.  If life was all war, I reckon I would get tired fairly quickly.
I do not know it is right to look forward to retirement as a life of ease.  As is often said “I have worked all my life, I deserve a rest.”  I have found that that is not right.  There is a season of rest, but for few it is a “remainder of life” season.  The people that tend to go the quickest are the ones who have nothing to look forward to.  They look back.  Others live ages as there are challenges galore they see.  They look forward.  The challenge may be to travel.  Whatever it is, it is a challenge to look forward to.  Health is a huge proviso on that.
The reason I have gone down this track is that I am reading a book of speeches.  A while back I read a speech given by George Patton.  He was rough, but I liked what he said.  He had the loyalty of his troops.  He was not a leader who said, I will tell you what to do and watch.  He was a “been there, done that” person.
He was addressing his troops about to go into war.   As Patton said, the quickest way for it to be over is for us to go in and win.
I really liked what he said about every man being scared in their first battle. “The real hero is the man who fights, even though he is scared.”  I’ll never forget the first time I spoke in front of people.  As if that was not daunting enough, I dreaded the mic needing adjusting.  Funny how the little things can be big things.
Fear is not to be feared.  Inaction is.  He said some men are cowards but they fight the same as brave men.  He made the point that it is not trying that is to be shunned.  Reminds me of life really.  There are few things worse than regrets.  The “if only” scenario.  Surely it is better to try and fail than to not try at all.  But give me try and succeed every time.
Another point he makes is that the enemy are not supermen.  He also said “…all of the real heroes are not story book combat figures either.”  My enemy most likely is a thing.  It seems to me life is made up of many small wins, rather than one big one.  Maybe what I face was unforeseen or unplanned.  Doesn’t matter really.  I’m in it to win it.
It was a really short speech but to me it weighed heaps.  The other point he made that I really like was, “Every man is a vital link in the great chain.”  I matter.  You matter.  Wars are won by groups of individuals, not individuals alone. 
If a piece of a puzzle is missing, the eye is drawn to what is missing rather that what is there. My role may only be a part, but it is vital.