The Cycle of Life

As it is with most things the journey through life is cyclic. Business goes through cycles of ups and downs, booms and busts, in order to become successful. In our personal life we also go through cycles of feast and famine to get to the magic time: retirement. In order to successfully complete life, three distinct phases must be mastered and ultimately completed.

First, comes the learning phase. Formal learning starts at five or six; but in reality, learning starts long before school days. Children learn from parents, siblings, and others. Some of the learning is instructional, but much of it is by observation. School broadens both academic and social learning and hopefully produces a balanced individual, ready to make his or her mark on society.

At the other end, formal education often ends at 18, 22, or 25, but to be continually successful a person must become a lifelong learner. Part of lifelong learning is gaining some additional information, but most of it is applying what we have learned to the vocation we have chosen and to enhance the relationships we enter over the years of life.

Next, comes the earning phase. We enter a workforce where we are told we are under qualified and often have times later when we are overqualified. In between are the years we accumulate things, raise a family, and hopefully set aside for later years. Building a career and chasing children activities dominate this second phase of life. We often catch ourselves coming and going in order to juggle the various duties.

Late in the earning stage as children start on their own earning quest, we begin to enter the final phase of life as we begin to return some of what we have gained in the earning stage. The returning phase is different for different people. It might be serving in the PTO or helping with service projects for the Rotary. Returning could be running for public office or making a contribution to the local college. Communities are made stronger by the volunteer efforts of those in the returning stage.

As children have left the learning phase and entered the earning stage, parents have more time and resources to return to the community for what the community has given them. This cycle has worked for decades in our society; and yet in recent years, we have seen a decline in participation in groups and organizations that foster returning phase activities. Hopefully we will see volunteerism grow and be healthy again as we move into the future. The cycle must continue in order for our learning and earning phases to stay healthy.