Life is a Highway: A Reflection on Life’s Seasons

Life is a highway. It’s not just a Rascal Flatts song; it’s an accurate and appropriate metaphor. In my case it’s the Atlanta highway which I recently got off of- God help me. In my premier blog I mentioned that we all have to ‘follow our own red road’, I never said it was easy to find, nor that it is an easy journey.

It’s a Native American saying, to find (or follow) your own red road. The red road, road of life pertains to all of us. We all take a different path, we all have different pursuits and dreams and goals, but we all have to go through life, and at times it is not an easy trek at all. What every human being has in common is struggle, traffic on that highway, bumps in the road. Hurtles that come out of nowhere and from anyone. Everyone has good times. Everyone has bad times. And it was in one of the hardest times of my life that I wrote Life’s Seasons.

I wrote it with a stressed laugh, I actually took a moment and just laughed at my run of bad luck, but it really was a hard time. It felt like I had a beautiful stretch of just being on top of the world, hair in the breeze as I fly down I75 in my 69 Mustang (no I don’t have one, but I can dream can’t I), and then all of a sudden, all that was gone. Bumper to bumper traffic- no- crash! I’m not trying to sound depressed or make you feel miserable, God I hate it when people try to sell a sob story - no. I had a tough stretch but I pulled myself out of it, I pulled myself out of Hell and climbed back onto the road. It made me stronger.

Life’s Seasons is about the trends of life we all feel, seasons, though when I was writing it, I described these seasons as metaphysical places- because let’s face it when it comes to life itself, good, bad, hot, cold just doesn’t cut it. Paradise, everyone’s been there; job is good, grades are awesome, you got the best people in the world around you- nothing can go wrong. Later this euphoria dials down; things aren’t so shiny, welcome to the world. Things are good and bad here but you’re getting by, things are still alright but it’s not always smooth. Purgatory is relatively bitter, cold. The road is harder and relationships, progress, all seem to be stale and just not moving, not going your way. One begins to have doubts, self doubt. If things don’t pick up at this point, it can form the perfect plank to fall straight into Hell .These are when times are hard, really hard, things aren’t picking up, it feels like you’re just sinking. Rage, sadness, hardship. Tartarus comes from Greek Mythology, it is the deepest most dire center of Hades. Hell times two. Here we find hopelessness, loneliness, despair. It’s when you feel you have no hope and that it’s just getting worse. It’s at this time you have to dig deep within your soul and pull yourself out of that hole.

Once and a while we all end up in Tartarus, the true test of character is the grace and perseverance we display while getting up, taking a few hits, and then continuing the fight. The road of life has its ups and downs. It’s important to soak in the good times and push through the hard ones, because while both are important, it’s those times of struggle that strengthen your character. I know of people who have gone through far worse times than I ever had, and it is they I admire most. We all have hard times, but with faith, with persistence, anyone can overcome them. Like the seasons, they too shall pass.