For a season

At my mother's 80th birthday party on Sunday, my cousin spoke about life being a train journey, with different stops(stations) along the way.

I've been thinking a lot about how, when I was younger, I had certain ideas of how my adult life would be. In many ways, I've been pleased with how my life's turned out (thus far!), but some things definitely were not part of my plan. The way I felt about work, when I first started, was that I'd be a teacher for life. In a metaphorical way, that's still true, but at that time I thought it meant working for the Education Department until I retired. As it happened, after 14 years, I left. Did some training, reskilled, and entered the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) industry, still teaching, but in a very different context. Circumstances moved me into management of a language school, and then I tried my hand at running my own school, with a business partner. That didn't work out, and I eventually went back to the Education Department, where I learnt a whole lot about post-apartheid state education, and even more about myself! Haha! That lasted 18 months. Three months before I ended my contract, I was offered my current job, managing a language school.

I've been here two and a half years, and I've learnt a lot - about the industry and about myself! I've acquired new skills and applied them to my music work, as well. I've learnt a lot about marketing and about generally putting myself out there confidently, consciously moving myself towards my next set of goals. I've met people who've stayed and others who've left. Some I miss terribly and some I was happy to say goodbye to. I've interviewed many applicants and hired a few, all of whom I have been proud to work with.

One thing I have learnt, in the course of my adult life: to everything there is a season. I always say, some of my biggest lessons I've learnt from nature. Just when you think, "I absolutely love this season, I wish it could go on forever, I love running in the cool summer night air", etc.... it changes. And you have to deal with autumn. And then you handle autumn: "I love the pink sunsets, the cooler air, and the mildness, oh yes, I could have this all year"...... and then it changes. And now it's winter, no denying it! I can't remember what I wore last winter, because I seem to have no appropriate clothes! But, winter it is. And winter always shakes me out of my comfort zone, forcing me to think about the transience of things, and to think about the choices that life affords us.

The only constant in life is change.