Imagine Yourself Savoring the Seasons of Life

Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, Savor the beauty of it all. Why are seasons so important, and what do they signify in your life? Seasons add beauty and variety to our world. Who doesn’t love the contrast between summer days and snowflakes, budding spring flowers and colorful, autumn leaves drifting down from the treetops? Seasons also mark the passage of time. They remind us that all things on earth, from the most wonderful to the most terrible, have an expiration date. It can be comforting to know that things in this life are temporary, and it can help us to plan accordingly. Seasons teach us that there is a time for life and death, planting, growing, and gathering, withering away and blossoming. Just think, summer is that much sweeter because we know that, eventually, it will leave and turn into something completely different. What if we tried to savor that sweetness?

You may have heard the quote from C.S. Lewis, “You’re never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.” From childhood, through our senior years, there is life to be lived and memories to be made for us and those around us. there’s a time for old school and for new school, a time for work and for play, a time for joy and for sorrow, and a lot of cherished, quality time for friends and family. I’m trying to spend more time soaking up the laughter and smiles and good times so that I can remember those memories when the not-so-good times hit hard.

Did you know that it is possible to go through life and miss out on the good times? We could blink and find ourselves wishing that we had taken the time to savor our parents, our children, our spouses, our friends, even ourselves! Another great quote “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” (Robert Brault) reminds us where life’s true treasures are found. Let’s make a conscious effort, today, to call or visit or hug or pray for or play with the people who make our lives worth living. Let’s watch the seasons as they come and go, using them as mile markers to help us determine how far we’ve traveled, how much love we’ve poured out, and how many memories we’ve created, before our journey here on earth is over. Let’s savor the big and little seasons of life!

We invite you to savor whatever season you find yourself living in right now. Listen in to this episode because we’re dedicating it to the Season of You!

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Sandy Kovach [00:00:01]:

Life can throw a lot at you, but imagine if your life were different, better, not because of what's coming at you, but because of what's coming from you. Let's get there together. Join us and imagine yourself. Happy

Lanée Blaise [00:00:15]:

spring, Summer, winter, fall, whatever season you're in, this is Lanae encouraging you to hang in there.

Sandy Kovach [00:00:22]:

Wait a minute. It can't be all the seasons all at the same time.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:24]:

Whatever one you happen to be Right now, you might live on the other side of the world. I don't know.

Sandy Kovach [00:00:29]:

Okay. I'm gonna leave it there and say, Lanee, what are we imagining today besides your goofiness?

Lanée Blaise [00:00:35]:

Yeah. Which is a good season 2. Yep. Imagine yourself intentionally, introspectively Savoring the variety of the seasons of life because we all come into this world as babies. We all will have ups and downs, hot and cold times. And just like the 4 seasons of nature, we can learn to Savor the seasons of our own personal lives. What season of life are you currently Women? And are you taking time or taking steps to make sure that you fully embrace, Enjoy and savor whatever season you happen to be in your life.

Sandy Kovach [00:01:20]:

Instead of maybe either Looking back longingly at a season that's over or can't wait until this season.

Lanée Blaise [00:01:28]:

Exactly. Because you are very likely perfectly placed for what you're supposed to be learning and doing In that time of your life, did you ever stop and think that we're not meant to be in an eternal state of 1 season in this life?

Sandy Kovach [00:01:45]:

So how do you do that? How do you kinda switch that thinking? The big

Lanée Blaise [00:01:48]:

part where you switch that is focusing on making sure that you just don't miss out on life, that you're not sitting there Don't worried about what used to be or what you wanna be that you miss the whole point of the variety and the differences and the Interest and intrigue of what is going on now.

Sandy Kovach [00:02:06]:

And getting through these transitions can be kinda tough. I just went through 1 a couple of years ago Women my son graduated from high school, and I'm sure moms and dads who have been through this can relate. It's the end of those school years, all the activities and things that go on with that. If you've gone through this, you know. If you haven't gone through this yet, You've probably heard stories that this is a tough transition. And when my son was a senior in high school, I remember talking to A friend about what had happened when she went through her son's senior year, and she said, I would sit in my car and cry, like, every day. Now I didn't go with that extent. Yeah.

Sandy Kovach [00:02:46]:

But I wasn't that upset about it or even that emotional about it, although it was definitely a thing. And it is a thing for most Parents. Right?

Lanée Blaise [00:02:53]:

I just recently went through it. My daughter just graduated a year ago, so she just finished her 1st year of college, and I thought That I was going to cry every single day. How about I did not cry at all? Oh. Even when we dropped her off to college. But I wonder if part of this episode Could be about preparation. Do you ever think of people who prepare for the winter by gathering food and by Getting snow boots and getting their car prepped and things like that so that when winter comes, it may not hit them as hard because they know it is coming. And the same with our kids graduating. I think that what happened was I got myself so emotionally and mentally prepared for the fact that this Chick was going off to school.

Lanée Blaise [00:03:36]:

And she was going to, I you know, I prayed and believed that she would blossom and do well, and She had prepared everything physically and school wise and academically, but I got to talk to other moms. I got to Sit and think on it, and I got to prepare for that season before it came so it didn't blindside me and knock me down.

Sandy Kovach [00:03:55]:

Yeah. And maybe that was me too. After talking to that lady, I thought, what? But maybe she didn't have anybody prepping her. So maybe that's something that we can do For people that are younger and that we can also look to people who are older. And I'm and talking to anybody about this, you can probably think of people in different ages and stages of life. You think about when you have your 1st child. And I remember you telling me stories about completely freaking out.

Lanée Blaise [00:04:20]:

That was rough.

Sandy Kovach [00:04:20]:

Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:04:21]:

That was a lot of crying.

Sandy Kovach [00:04:22]:

Yeah. Because If you're not prepared or ready or know a lot about it or even if you read every single what to expect, you know

Lanée Blaise [00:04:30]:

All the doctor's stock books. That's right. Yeah. So that's that's a good point too so that we don't kind of beat ourselves up where even if you are prepared and you still struggle with it, that is okay, and it is Temporary.

Sandy Kovach [00:04:42]:

So yeah. So there's physical things. There's emotional things during all of these different ages and stages.

Lanée Blaise [00:04:48]:

Ages, stages, and I'm I'm liking the things that you're saying too as far as with child rearing and in a career also. Careers have these ebbs and flows, and even starting in a new position Feels like a springtime aspect of a a new season. Mhmm. Even though spring is great and fresh and green and beautiful, it does rain an awful lot. That's True. Can be good to a degree, but the same way with the new career you're setting out, and it's fresh and green and new, but there might be some Little tough times there too.

Sandy Kovach [00:05:18]:

Getting acclimated and just getting to know people and their habits. Sometimes Women you don't know how to interact in a work culture Sure. Or just not that there's anything wrong with it, but you just don't know. There are those growing pains. Once you've been there, like the old veteran for

Lanée Blaise [00:05:34]:

Yes.

Sandy Kovach [00:05:34]:

10 years or something, it feels a lot different.

Lanée Blaise [00:05:36]:

And that's the whole point, realizing those parts about it is temporary. One day, you get to be the veteran. One day, you get to look back and Maybe laugh or not necessarily laugh at it, but at least get that feeling that you are living a life well lived.

Sandy Kovach [00:05:52]:

Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:05:52]:

And that you're getting these experiences and that you're going through changes and that there's variety trying to savor and See the beauty in all that.

Sandy Kovach [00:06:00]:

Like kids getting into like, your daughter just went to college. Or I know I remember when my son started high School, what a big that was a big huge deal too, and you have a son that's getting ready to start high school. Yeah. That's the part of your year. Year. Everybody looks down on Freshman.

Lanée Blaise [00:06:14]:

At the bottom of the barrel. Yeah. And that's another one. May as well just prepare your mind that that you used to rule the school, baby, as an 8th grader over in middle school, But now you're in a different season. You're at a different level on the totem pole, and it might pinch you up a bit, but Keeps you humble. Yeah. So many people are familiar also with in the book of Ecclesiastes that there is a time for everything and a season for Every activity under the heavens, and that is just something that gives me comfort personally because as humans, we So often tend to forget. We're so focused on only on the good times, only on the parts where you did get there, that I just Urge people to try to enjoy the aspect of getting there also

Sandy Kovach [00:07:04]:

Mhmm.

Lanée Blaise [00:07:04]:

And realizing that It's supposed to be different. It's supposed to be hilly in some parts and smooth in other parts, and that's the way we were designed.

Sandy Kovach [00:07:14]:

As we go through these different phases, some of them good, some of them bad, one thing that's important is that we don't compare one phase of our life to another And expect it to be the same or expect ourselves to be the same. Reminds me a little bit about that podcast I was sharing with you from Ed Mylett. Yes. The business leader? Yes. He's awesome. One thing he said, never compare, like, your 50 year old self with your 20 year old self or your Forty year old self with even your 30 year old self. And the comparison was mostly in the context of health and energy. Although, you know, we all do our best to stay healthy at any age, some things are just harder when you get older.

Lanée Blaise [00:07:54]:

And you can either embrace that and have happiness, because I remember that Podcast you're sharing with you too about the keys to happiness. So you can embrace it and have a sense of happiness, or you can totally not embrace it and fight it and not accept it and think that I still should have this 20 year old body at age 50

Sandy Kovach [00:08:12]:

and just be disappointed every time. And while we're talking a little bit about getting older, which is something we all do Yeah. It's not just how people think of themselves getting older. It's what Society tells them about themselves as they get older, and a lot of the basis for that is the almighty dollar and marketing. Yeah. People in older demographics are not as sought after as far as marketers are concerned. I've heard the argument that people who are older actually have more money to spend, and and it's really true. I mean, a lot of the boomers are older now And they have a lot of extra disposable income, but the reality is the marketers still want the younger demographics buying their products.

Sandy Kovach [00:08:59]:

You know, they wanna get people whether younger and forming new habits. And, of course, you have to market to younger generations, but I think they have Kind of thrown the older generations completely under the bus, and it is wrong. And I don't think good business sense to ignore them. But They do their own research. They have their reasons for doing it. I'm not here to argue that. It just feels wrong to me, and I don't like the effects. Yeah.

Sandy Kovach [00:09:21]:

And I don't think it's just in Advertising or for companies, I actually heard the story of a church, and they needed to attract younger people. And so they have this big event, And they don't want anyone over a certain age to volunteer because they don't want older people to be the face of their church. And to me, that's just going a little too far. Yeah. So what does that do to people?

Lanée Blaise [00:09:42]:

It makes you feel that you're irrelevant when you are absolutely not. And it's also like You're not using everything that you could use to benefit. So if I have an engine, A battery, a motor, a muffler, and all these different things, but I decide I'm not gonna use the muffler on my car. Why would I do that? You know? Why would you not use loud if you didn't have your muffler.

Sandy Kovach [00:10:05]:

I don't know much about cars, but I I do think that cars without mufflers are for loud.

Lanée Blaise [00:10:09]:

They can function, But why not embrace and use the whole gamut of what

Sandy Kovach [00:10:15]:

you've got under your belt? So, obviously, companies Churches, they have their reasons for doing things, but is there a way they can do it that's more sensitive? I don't know.

Lanée Blaise [00:10:25]:

And, again, to incorporate all The good aspects that you do have, and maybe we should be mindful of that as well as our own human beings going through our own you know, many of us in the business or in the marketing industry. Take an extra second to decide that you don't want to be because this is Feel like discriminatory.

Sandy Kovach [00:10:45]:

It really is. What they age. Yeah. I mean, it's it's And it can go both ways. Yes. That's true. Boomers are always making fun of millennials. Even Gen Xers make fun of millennials.

Sandy Kovach [00:10:55]:

What do they do to deserve it? I mean, sure, their habits are different, but

Lanée Blaise [00:10:58]:

But they offer a lot of innovation that this Country in this world needs at this time also. Just like if you have several kids. Let's say you have 4 kids or whatever. You wanna use all of them to make your family complete, And that's maybe the way that we need to think of this more as an eternal family. Our elder members of the society, which in many cultures and in many Different time periods in this world were highly revered.

Sandy Kovach [00:11:25]:

For their knowledge and experience. Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:11:28]:

And now we're coming to an area where we don't necessarily value our seniors As much as we should. And sometimes our young people too, we don't value. We tend to be very flippant and dismissive about things that they do and think When in many cases, I'm very proud of this group of young people who's coming about now. They seem to be very vocal and very poised And very considerate of the overall state of our world.

Sandy Kovach [00:12:01]:

People of all ages bring something to the table. Yeah. And You should not be dismissed because you're too young. You should not be dismissed because you're too old. It's almost like a cliche. Don't let age define you. But, really, I mean, it is hard not to because it's always out there and in social media too, and it the youth culture and looking younger and being younger. But you're still

Lanée Blaise [00:12:23]:

that same person inside. Some of your viewpoints may have changed. Your experiences have definitely changed. But I love the fact that I'm still the same Lanee that was in there all along

Sandy Kovach [00:12:36]:

Mhmm.

Lanée Blaise [00:12:36]:

And will be. And that is something to really hold on to. It doesn't matter if I was a little kid running around back, and I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Or if I am one day maybe the matriarch of my family, 90 years old, And doing whatever I am still doing then, I'm still, Linae. I'm still that same person inside who still needs to be valued. And This kinda brings to mind a lot of celebrities that we have watched literally move through Seasons in their life right before our eyes, whether they were child stars or singers or actresses. Do you notice how there are very different ways that different celebrities have moved through these seasons, Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, sometimes holding on to the past too much, sometimes embracing the newness in the future.

Sandy Kovach [00:13:30]:

I was thinking because of the whole Seinfeld 30 thing about Julia Louis Dreyfus who played Elaine on Seinfeld Yeah. And how she was amazing and how She has been successful even as she has gotten older with Veep and some of the other projects, and she's stayed relevant. But it doesn't feel to me like she's tried to Hold on to youth so much.

Lanée Blaise [00:13:49]:

Exactly. She's let her regular personal life and her characters evolve into different areas. And I'm not saying that all celebrities are role models, but in some cases, we can take a look at the way different people have lived their lives And draw upon that also because I love that example. I even have one even older, even more Decades that we've watched is Tina Turner.

Sandy Kovach [00:14:17]:

Oh my gosh. Yeah. She's ageless.

Lanée Blaise [00:14:19]:

Yeah. Well, I just saw a beautiful special that featured her on CBS this morning, CBS Sunday morning, and she's right around that 79, 80 year old mark, and She's just phenomenal, and that's that part where I still see the same Tina Turner within her that I always did. Just her life perspective is so interesting. She says that she really did have a hard life. Big Chunks of her life were very hard, and she doesn't place the blame on anyone. But she is so grateful that she's at a point in her life now where she has such peace, such Serenity. And she gets to wake up and enjoy her life and her freedom, and she says she's not touring anymore. And she says people say, oh, but we're missing.

Lanée Blaise [00:15:04]:

She She said, well, you can watch the video because she's over it, and she realizes that this is her time to savor this Season of her life.

Sandy Kovach [00:15:13]:

Good for her because she was out there touring for the longest time, running around in those high Health, like,

Lanée Blaise [00:15:17]:

you know, from a teenager until about Seventy plus.

Sandy Kovach [00:15:22]:

Yeah. I'd say that's pretty outstanding.

Lanée Blaise [00:15:25]:

And these are the stories that we wanna mention and sprinkle over you so that we can Remember this and encourage ourselves because there are also we unfortunately see some celebrities or athletes who sometimes Maybe should have just hung it up gracefully and learned to savor that 2nd chapter, that next chapter more, because some people Try to hold on to a particular season and just squeeze the life out of it when you're meant to move to the next season and the next chapter.

Sandy Kovach [00:15:55]:

Yeah. Or even flipping it a

Lanée Blaise [00:15:57]:

little bit. What about this? Mike Tyson, I honestly thought that he was gonna be one of those athletes who was gonna just Try to hold on to those glory days of boxing champion, but actually and he did go through some rough parts too. He had Some really tough times, but he did evolve and reframe everything. And he came out, And now he has, you know, his Vegas 1 man show, and he has the different interviews. He has his family. He seems to be In a peaceful place, an act 2 or act 3. I'm not sure which act of his life he's in now, but a different season where he's Kind of embracing it when he was one of those ones I thought would have just held on till he just squeezed the life out of the boxing part.

Sandy Kovach [00:16:42]:

But now he's reinvented himself Yes. In show business. The movie The Hangover, who could

Lanée Blaise [00:16:47]:

Who would've thought? Right? And then he would've been popped up in there. So I love the fact that we can wake up each day And restructure everything and start anew. Recreate ourselves.

Sandy Kovach [00:16:59]:

I found this quote. It said all the trees are losing their leaves, And not one of them is worried. From Donald Miller. Yeah. Like that. Nobody the trees aren't worried about it. They're gonna shed their leaves. Yeah.

Sandy Kovach [00:17:11]:

Once again in the fall and come back in the spring, and the seasons just go.

Lanée Blaise [00:17:16]:

And they're not squeezing and Trying to hold on to those leaves so they can keep that season any longer than it's meant to be. Yeah. The whole idea of this season's episode Kinda popped up when I was listening to you, Sandy. Oh. On on the breeze for the radio station and Heard that song, which I've heard it before, but Landslide by Fleetwood Mac, and then it was redone by the Dixie Chicks. So there's so many different things in that song that you could have focused on because she's talking about the mountains and the snow covered hills and things like that. But the thing I kept focusing on was, Can I sail through the changing ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life? And I've been afraid of changing. She's talking about how it made her bolder.

Lanée Blaise [00:18:04]:

Even children get older, and she's getting older too. And I think about that for myself. I don't want it To be a situation where I get to the end, you know, and I'm Yeah. I'm on the other side of whatever happens after, you know, we pass away. And I sit there and think, Lanae, you could have enjoyed so many more opportunities during the journey instead of Focusing on where you weren't or where you were trying to be during that

Lanée Blaise [00:18:32]:

whole time. Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:18:34]:

You and I, we always talk about we encourage betterment and Goals and things like that, but I just hope that we don't get so caught up in it that we overlook How great, how developmental, how essential all of the seasons were, and that we look at our Childhood. We look at our adolescents. We look at our adult years and then our senior years, and we are able to kinda shake our head At the end and that even, you know, the goal, of course, in my opinion is that god would say, well done, my good and faithful servant, that you lived a life Pleasing and well lived.

Sandy Kovach [00:19:13]:

And as you get older, you can impart things on younger people. I think that's one Then you can share your wisdom. Think about even as a child. You've talked about your grandma before.

Lanée Blaise [00:19:27]:

Yes. Oh, my grandma Susie. For grandma Susie, we have Sue isms.

Sandy Kovach [00:19:31]:

Sue isms. Can you lay 1 on me?

Lanée Blaise [00:19:34]:

Oh, yeah. I'll lay 1 on you. Pumpkin? That's Her little nickname for me. Yes. For the red hair.

Sandy Kovach [00:19:39]:

Can I call you pumpkin? No. Probably not.

Lanée Blaise [00:19:41]:

That's just grandma Susie. Yeah. And I even told her, don't say that in front of the kids. But pumpkin, Like the skunk said when the wind changed, it's all coming back to me now. And Just little things like that. She had a 1,000,000 of them, but little things like that live on. Right? Yeah. And she realized that her season was almost over.

Lanée Blaise [00:20:03]:

She said, Pumpkin, by the time, is trying to catch me. She embraced it. Yeah. You just gotta go with it, and he eventually caught her.

Sandy Kovach [00:20:14]:

Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:20:14]:

And all in good time. It's just that the wisdom of the people who go before us, we Don't wanna let that slip away. Don't wanna miss out on it.

Sandy Kovach [00:20:24]:

Because we think it's irrelevant. Right. Because it's so not irrelevant.

Lanée Blaise [00:20:27]:

It's not. They have lived 93 successful years, maneuvered through all the different changes, politically and through society and Economically and everything, and we're just gonna think, I don't know, luck. I wanna flip that script. And the way that we look at others, and the way that we look at ourselves.

Sandy Kovach [00:20:46]:

Most definitely.

Lanée Blaise [00:20:48]:

Another thing, though, that I do like about the way society's been going I don't know what the term is, so I'm gonna make up the term, but maybe you actually know the real name.

Sandy Kovach [00:20:56]:

I kinda like your made up terms better.

Lanée Blaise [00:20:57]:

So Oh, you like me? You might like it, but I have experienced based giving and living. There is a concept that honestly has become very popular lately because my own husband and lots of my friends and people that I'm Seeing on social media are starting to reconsider the traditional way of gift giving, and they prefer to give, Instead of a tangible gift, the gift of an experience for their loved ones, to their kids, or to their spouse, or even a gift to their own parents or Or grandma Susie. You know? Or grandma Susie. Back back in the day. But, like, they give a trip or a ticket to a museum or a play or a picnic or Instead of giving their kids an Xbox or getting their spouse a necklace or a tie, you want a special, long lasting way to mark And remember that season. The goal is that you're always gonna look back on and remember. Right. That family vacation or that Special outing or you get what I'm saying?

Sandy Kovach [00:21:57]:

Yeah. I mean, because I don't talk to my son about, hey. Remember that time I bought you those Legos? I say, no. Remember we went to Disneyland? Yes.

Lanée Blaise [00:22:04]:

And it's not that people didn't used to do it before. Definitely, there were family vacations and gifts like that. I've just seen more of a push towards it And a push away from some of the material things that kinda get Possed.

Sandy Kovach [00:22:18]:

Yeah. And Eventually. Forgotten. Some of them not. You know, obviously, like, An engagement ring or I mean, nothing's wrong with getting flowers for your anniversary. But I agree. I think experiences are things you treasure and you talk about, become Part of your family history. Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:22:33]:

And they mark different moments and chunks and seasons in life. Absolutely. And all these types of things, I just hope we'd open our minds, think a little differently.

Sandy Kovach [00:22:45]:

Yeah. Because if we don't, Not only is it gonna hold us back from enjoying what we're enjoying, but it's gonna make us dread getting older.

Lanée Blaise [00:22:54]:

Yes.

Sandy Kovach [00:22:55]:

And we don't wanna make life all about that, which leads us to our takeaways. Today's takeaways.

Lanée Blaise [00:23:01]:

You're gonna notice that they're very Musically and television based, but let's just roll with it. I like it.

Sandy Kovach [00:23:07]:

I like it. I like it. I like it.

Lanée Blaise [00:23:09]:

Kinda like the former Nike tagline, just do it. Or like Michael Jackson said in man in the mirror, make that change. Yeah. Or even in the song Landslide that we just talked about, not just handle the seasons of your life, Embrace the seasons of your life. We really just want to flip the whole thinking. Growing, developing, moving into different areas and aspects of life as a good thing. And it doesn't mean that you can't be happy when a particular season is finally over. You're like, whoo.

Lanée Blaise [00:23:37]:

That was a tough one. I'm glad that one's over. I'm happy to move to the season. That's fine. It's just the situation where we don't want to believe that we're supposed to remain in an eternal Springtime or summertime or winter or fall, we need to love and accept it all. Just embrace. So overall, imagine yourself Seeing the beauty of and savoring all of the seasons of your vast, beautiful, variety filled life.

Sandy Kovach [00:24:04]:

Thanks for listening. Now We'd like to hear from you. Got an idea for the show? Wanna share your story or just say hello? Make sure you connect with us. You can do that at imagine yourself Podcast .com, and we'll talk to you again next time when we have something new to imagine.

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